The Tale of Namikaze Naruto
by KamiSC2
Summary: What if Naruto took his story more seriously and Kakashi trained his team properly. How would things be different? Most importantly, how would this affect Naruto and his story? This is the story of Naruto Namikaze.
1. Graduation!

**Author's Note: This story is inspired by** **Naruto: Shifts in Life** **by The Engulfing Silence which is one of my all-time favorite stories.** **Shifts in Life** **centers on the question "what if the Third Hokage had told Naruto about the ability of the Shadow Clones to relay information". So, the first chapter is heavily modeled after the first chapter of this work. This got me thinking and recently while rereading/watching Naruto, I realized Kakashi should've trained his team more and HE should've told Naruto much earlier. So, this fanfiction is the story of Namikaze Naruto, one trained properly by Kakashi along with a properly trained team 7. Finally, one fairly important thing. (Probably not that important but still) I refuse to pair Naruto with Hinata or Sakura. But, if you wanna see someone else, let me know!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** _ **I do not own Naruto. I wish I did though.**_

* * *

"Hey _"_ _ **– character speech**_

 _Hey_ _ **– thoughts**_

 **Hey – Demons/summons/big things**

* * *

 **The Tale of Naruto Namikaze.**

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sun, still low in the sky, crept its warm, yellow light onto the city creeping the light into the windows of the city. The earliest sounds of life in the city picked up as various shops unlocked their doors and flipped their signs from "closed to open". Slowly people began to trickle down the street and the chatter of conversation filled Konoha's air. Ninja patrols leaving early for missions began leaving the city off on various important tasks.

In the homes, parents began to wake up their children, announcing that it was time for school. The warm smell of breakfasts filled the many houses and apartments. As the light slowly flooded into one specific apartment, a young blond boy mumbled and turned over nestling just a little deeper into his worn blankets refusing to let the dream in his head escape. This was a particularly good dream where he, the Hokage, sat on a throne using Sasuke-teme as a foot rest while Sakura-chan fed him ramen.

Unfortunately, his alarm wasn't having any of that. Three harsh beeps woke the startled boy, who quickly shot up and rolled swiftly out of bed. Then, groggily realizing he wasn't under attack, he turned off the clock. Yawning, Naruto stretched out and looked at the time on the clock.

 _There's something important I'm missing._ He thought as he relaxed. It was only 7 am. Why had he woken up so early? Then, it hit him. "Today's the graduation exam to become a ninja!" He shot into the bathroom jumping into the shower which was frigid. The cold water always forced a yelp from him, the shock of the cold suddenly contacting his skin. He adapted fairly quickly to the cold. He'd never had any hot water to his room, probably a result of how much his cranky landlady hated him.

Finishing up his shower, Naruto threw on a pair of green boxers with ramen bowls on them, a gift from the Hokage one year on his Birthday, followed by one of his customary orange and blue jump suits that he'd managed to obtain from the trash of nearby clothing store since he couldn't afford any of the clothes at most stores. From a small rickety table beside his bed, he grabbed his kunai holster and tied it to his right thigh. He grabbed his shuriken pouch and attached it over his left back pocket. He moved quickly to his kitchen and grabbed a cup of instant ramen from a cabinet and filled it with water and tossed it into a battered microwave that'd come with the apartment. As soon as the microwave beeped indicating that the ramen was finished, Naruto grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks and rushed off towards the ninja academy.

* * *

Naruto arrived at the ninja academy and walked into his usual classroom. He glanced quickly around the room in search of a seat and grimaced as he realized that the only seats open were the two beside the genius of the class, Sasuke Uchiha. Sighing, he sat down in the seat furthest from Sasuke.

"Teme." Naruto greeted casually hoping to get some form of response and maybe rile up his rival.

"Hn."

"I'm gonna steal that Rookie of the Year spot from you Teme!" Another attempt to rile up the stoic boy.

"Hn."

Naruto grit his teeth angrily and prepared to yell at the brooding boy when suddenly he noticed his crush, Sakura Haruno, walk into the room. She was a beautiful pinkette who tied her hair back by a red ribbon that matched her red Chinese style dress. She wore black skin tight pants and blue sandals. Unfortunately she idolized Sasuke just like every other girl in the class.

As she moved close to him, Naruto decided that it wasn't worth his time to focus on Sasuke and turned 100% of his attention to Sakura. "Hey Sakura-chan! I was wondering if after class you-"

Before he could finish his sentence, however, Sakura's fist had smashed into his face knocking him back against the seat. "Shut up Naruto-baka! I don't want to hear your stupid annoying voice! Move! I want to sit beside Sasuke-kun." She shoved past him and sat beside her crush.

"Hi Sasuke-kun! How're you today? I was wondering, do you want to go on a date sometime?" She asked staring coyly at her crush.

Naruto sighed as he picked himself up listening to Sasuke simply "Hn" in response to Sasuke. He'd gotten used to Sakura rejecting him and of course hitting him immediately after. Some of her worse rejections even left him wondering what he saw in her.

As he shifted back into his seat, he sat up rubbing his hurting face and looked on as their sensei, Iruka entered the room with his assistant, Mizuki.

"Alright everyone. Quiet down. It's time for the test. Today, you'll be required to enter as your name is called and perform the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu)" Iruka called out.

And as soon as those words left Iruka's mouth, Naruto felt all his confidence crumble. He could do any other jutsu required but for some reason the Bunshin no Jutsu was impossible for him. His confidence only got lower and lower as student after student left the exam room proudly wearing their headbands signifying their new induction as genin, as ninja.

 _No. I can do this._ Naruto thought. _I can pass this test_.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" came Iruka's voice.

Naruto masked his apprehension with a big grin and walked into the room where Iruka and Mizuki.

"Okay Naruto. Whenever you're ready, go ahead. Good luck." Iruka said, secretly cheering his disciple on especially considering how similar Naruto was to how Iruka had been in the past.

Naruto took a deep breath and channeled chakra before performing the appropriate hand seals for the jutsu. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" He called out. A large puff of smoke surrounded Naruto and as it cleared it revealed there was only a single dead looking clone on the ground.

Iruka's face first took on a look of sheer shock and then slowly turned red. "YOU FAIL!" He yelled out.

Naruto's eyes widened and his head dropped. _I worked so hard. I thought I could pass this time_.

"Iruka, I think we can pass him this time. I mean, it is his third time taking the test and he did reproduce a clone." Mizuki said turning to his colleague, surprising both Iruka and Naruto.

"No." Iruka said shaking his head. "Everyone else in the class made at least three clones which were fully functional. Naruto made one clone and it wasn't even a proper one." He turned to Naruto. "Sorry Naruto. I can't pass you".

Naruto frowned, holding back tears, and slowly left to go sit outside on the swing he'd always sat on after the last two times he failed.

* * *

As he sat outside, Naruto watched as the many genin from his class met with their parents who praised their children. This was probably the worst part of failing. The reminder that he was an orphan, and that no matter what in the end his parents weren't going to be proud.

"Thank god that _child_ didn't pass."

Naruto turned his head towards two women who were glancing in his direction and tuned in a little, hiding how much the words hurt him.

"I know. Can you imagine what would happen if he became a ninja? I mean after all he's"

"Sshhh… You know we aren't allowed to talk about that."

Naruto frowned as he heard this conversation. He was about to get up and yell at the women when he noticed Mizuki walk up to him. "Sensei?"

"Hey Naruto, come with me for a bit. I wanna talk to you."

"Iruka didn't want to fail you, you know." Mizuki said smiling a bit at Naruto as they sat on top of the roof of the Academy. "He just wants to see you succeed and make sure that you're ready for the pressures of being a ninja."

"I know." Naruto signed sadly. "I just really thought I could do it this time."

Mizuki hid a sinister grin and then smiled at the young academy student. "Well, I suppose I can tell you about the secret test then!"

* * *

Naruto smiled to himself as he snuck past the guards in into the Hokage's office. It felt a little too easy for him but who was he to complain about such an easy test. It was probably his awesome skills anyway.

"I wonder where the scroll is" Naruto mused to himself. He'd been in the office plenty of times before visiting his jii-san. He began looking at the bookshelves searching for the scroll he wanted. He found a big one that seemed like what he wanted. He strapped the scroll to his back with some ninja wire and made his way to the door.

As he approached the door, the door opened and in stepped the Third Hokage.

"Naruto?" Sarutobi exclaimed, his eyes widening slightly. "What on earth are you doing here at this hour?"

Naruto panicked quickly and threw his hands together into a fast hand seal and exclaimed "Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy no Jutsu)!"

Naruto snickered to himself as he sat in the forest and opened the scroll he had. _Man, I kicked ji-san's butt just now. He might as well just make me the Hokage._

He looked down at the scroll and looked at the first jutsu in the scroll intent on learning whatever jutsu it offered. Instantly, he groaned. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu). The one type of jutsu I struggle with. Whatever, let's do this."

The description in the scroll offered a quick synopsis of the jutsu. It seemed to Naruto that allowed the user to make solid clones which would dispel if hit hard. However, there was also a warning about the chakra needed and something called memory feedback which Naruto didn't understand. With that, Naruto set to learning his new jutsu.

* * *

An hour passed and Naruto found himself surrounded by 10 clones of himself. Slowly he reached out and poked one which responded by poking him back.

Naruto blinked and then let a wide grin grace his face. "YATTA! WE DID IT!" The clones and the original cheered. He quickly dispelled his clones. He got ready to turn and head back to Konoha when he heard a very familiar voice.

"Naruto! There you are!" Iruka exclaimed as he walked up to his student.

"Iruka-sensei! I found you! Hah!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Baka! I found you!" Iruka yelled as he punched Naruto on top of his head.

"Heh! I guess you did!" Naruto said excitedly. "I only had time to learn one jutsu".

 _He's been training. And really hard too._ Iruka thought.

Meanwhile, Naruto was hopping back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Hey! So, if I can do this one jutsu I managed to learn, it means I pass right sensei? That's what Mizuki-sensei told me!"

Iruka's eyes widened as he realized what happened and as the familiar whizzing of kunai shooting his way. He shoved Naruto out of the way even as his arms and legs were impaled by kunai and shuriken.

"Mizuki" Iruka growled looking up into a tree.

"Haha! Iruka! You got here fast. You really do know the brat well" Mizuki laughed from his place on the branch. "I'll deal with you later." He turned his attention to Naruto. "Give the scroll to me Naruto."

Naruto stared back and forth between his two sensei. "What's going on? Mizuki-sensei?"

"Naruto! Do not give him that scroll!" Iruka yelled. "Mizuki used you to get his hands on the scroll. He's a liar and a traitor."

Mizuki let out a cruel laugh before leaning forward. "I'll tell you who's really lying here Naruto!"

Iruka's eyes widened. "No! Mizuki! Don't!"

Mizuki didn't so much as turn to acknowledge him. "After all, the village's been lying to you for twelve years! Didn't you wonder why the village treats you the way they do? Why they ignore you? Why they speak badly of you? I'll tell you why Naruto. You see, Naruto, the Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi. Instead, he sealed it into a newborn baby. The baby born on that day…"

Naruto began to tremble. He might not have been very bright or talented, but he did develop a keen ability to understand people and common sense from having to survive alone. And he finally understood everything.

 _I am a demon_. _That's why everyone hates me._

Naruto was so distracted by this revelation that he didn't realize that a large fuuma shuriken was flying his way. As he realized, he felt his muscles tense but then he hit the ground on his butt with Iruka kneeling above him with, the fuuma shuriken sticking out of his back.

"Why?" Naruto asked, voice cracking.

"Because we're the same. I was just like you when I was in the academy. I know the pain of not having anyone, the pain of loneliness. I'm sorry Naruto. I should've done more." Iruka said the pain from the fuuma shuriken lacing his voice.

"Don't lie to the demon Iruka" Came Mizuki's taunting voice. "After all, he's the monster that killed your parents."

Naruto's eyes widened and he responded to the new information in the best way he could. He grabbed the scroll and ran.

* * *

Naruto jumped through the trees as fast as he could, avoiding both of the chunin who were behind him a while ago.

"Naruto!"

Turning, the blond saw Iruka running close behind him. "Naruto! Mizuki was lying! He's just trying to confuse you! Give me the scroll so I can get it back to the Hokage."

Rather than listen, Naruto simply span and tackled Iruka knocking him out of the trees into the ground below.

"How? How did you know I'm not Iruka?" Iruka said as he grabbed his stomach and in a puff of smoke turned back into Mizuki.

Naruto simply smirked. "That's easy. Because I'm Iruka." He snickered a little as he collapsed at the base of a tree and reverted to himself.

Mizuki scowled at his former colleague. "Why are you protecting the demon Iruka? He's the reason your parents are dead. You know what's in his hands. He'll just use that scroll to destroy Konoha. That's what demons are like."

"You're right." Iruka said from his collapsed position breathing hard surprising Mizuki. "That is what demons are like.

Naruto, who was hiding behind a nearby tree, froze at the words. As the tears began to spill from his eyes, he thought, _I knew it. Iruka-sensei thinks I'm a demon too. He hates me like the rest of them_.

"But that's not what Naruto would do. Naruto isn't a demon. He's my proud student, a citizen and future ninja of Konoha, and I believe in his dream. Naruto Uzumaki is the future Hokage of Konoha! I acknowledge him!"

Instantly, Naruto's mood flipped. He had someone who acknowledged him. Iruka-sensei believed in him. Finally, someone besides the old man Hokage and the couple at his favorite ramen stand believed in him.

"You know Iruka, I was going to keep you for later. But, now, I think I'm just going to kill you here." Mizuki's voice, cold and bitter, drew Naruto from his thoughts. Mizuki drew a second fuuma shuriken and began to spin in preparing it to throw. Just as he prepared to let loose the shuriken, a blur of orange and yellow rammed into him knocking his arm wildly off course forcing the shuriken in a totally different direction.

"Don't even think about touching Iruka-sensei! I'll kill you if you do!" Naruto proclaimed hand in the air with a defiant grin.

"Hah! Stupid demon! I'm a chunin! You're not even good enough to be a genin!" Mizuki responded grinning like a madman.

"I'll show you! Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Multi-shadow clone jutsu)!"

Iruka and Mizuki stared as Naruto multiplied into hundreds of clones of himself, so many clones that there was almost more orange than green in the forest.

"What's wrong Mizuki-teme? I thought you were tough!" One of the clones from behind Mizuki yelled.

"Here we go!" yelled one to his right.

Then, all the clones shot off toward a very scared traitor.

Naruto smiled to himself and stood tall as he stared down at the bleeding pulp that had once been his former sensei.

"Maybe I overdid it a bit. Hehe." the blond said scratching the back of his head.

 _Incredible._ Iruka thought to himself as he watched Naruto. _I wasn't too serious earlier when I told Mizuki that Naruto was the future Hokage but with that just now, I'm starting to believe it._

"Naruto. Come here. I have something I need to give you." Iruka said.

Naruto sighed a little, apprehensive about what would happen, before walking over. "What's up Sensei?"

"Close your eyes Naruto".

Naruto closed his eyes and waited. He felt some Iruka remove his goggles and then felt some cloth tighten on his own forehead. "Okay Naruto. Open your eyes."

Immediately, Naruto opened his eyes and his hands flew to his forehead, feeling the cold metal and tracing the familiar grooves of the leaf symbol that he'd felt the times Iruka had let him one. Iruka was grinning proudly at him, holding the goggles in one hand.

"Congratulations Naruto! You graduated! How about we go and get some Ramen from Ichiraku to celebrate?"

Naruto smiled and looked down holding back tears of joy. Then, he tackled Iruka with a giant hug. "Thanks Iruka-sensei!"

"Ow! Naruto! Ow! That hurts!"

* * *

Iruka patted Naruto on the back as they entered the office of the old Hokage. "Come in Naruto. You too Iruka. Have a seat." Iruka and Naruto had gone to get ramen before coming to see the old Hokage, though Iruka had Naruto send a clone to deliver the Forbidden Scroll. However, Sarutobi still wished to talk to Naruto to make sure everything was fine and that there would be no problems.

"Well Naruto. Tell me what happened." He knew of course. But, the boy didn't need to know that.

Naruto relayed the story to his adopted grandfather, explaining in detail about how Mizuki tricked him into stealing the scroll, about learning the jutsu, and about learning about the Kyuubi. As the story progressed, Naruto became more quiet and downcast. And upon reaching the part about the Kyuubi –

"Ji-san. Is it true? That I'm…"

Sarutobi sighed and looked at the portrait of Minato that hung from the wall directly opposite of his seat and directly behind Naruto and Iruka.

"It is."

Naruto looked down, the tears flooding out of his eyes and down his face.

"So it's true. I am a demon."

This time, Iruka was the one that intervened. "No! You aren't a demon Naruto. You're the prison and the Kyuubi is your prisoner."

"Indeed" Sarutobi said. "If I were to seal a kunai into a scroll, would it become a kunai? No. The same thing applies to you."

Sarutobi glanced out at the village. "The Fourth, when he sealed the Kyuubi into you, wished that you'd be viewed as a hero by the village. But, people are scared. They don't understand sealing. They are unwilling to accept you because of that fear."

Naruto frowned. He understood what the old man was saying and it made sense in some twisted way. _But, how I can I make the village acknowledge me? What should I do to make them respect me? But, I can do it. I'll become the Hokage still._

Naruto looked up at Sarutobi with a determined face. "I'll do it ojii-san. I'll make everyone in this village acknowledge me. I'll become the Hokage!"

Sarutobi smiled at the young boy for a little bit before adopting a sterner face. "I'm proud of you Naruto. That is a good dream. A great goal. But, if you want to become Hokage, you will have to work much harder than you have till now. You won't have time for pranks and you'll have to train and study much harder. Learn how to become a real shinobi. After all, the hokage is the strongest ninja in the village of course. More than the strongest though, he's the most knowledgeable and the most cunning."

"Huh. So, you're a pretty smart guy, ojii-san."

Sarutobi chuckled. "Do you know why I'm called 'The Professor'?"

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Because you're smart?"

"I earned my title of "The Professor" because of my ability to read a battle field situation and my ability to fight. As I lived, I gained information from the many books I ready ranging from politics, to ninja theory, jutsu, and such. Such information is essential to becoming a Hokage. A Hokage must be smart as well as smart."

Naruto nodded eagerly, soaking up all the information the wise old Hokage was giving him.

"I'm sure tomorrow, Iruka would be willing to work with you and go over with you what you could work on." The Hokage turned expectantly to the chunin instructor.

"Of course! I'd be happy to help out! It's my job after all." Iruka said smiling towards Naruto and throwing him a thumbs up.

"In two days, you'll be assigned to a jonin sensei with three other genin. He'll be responsible for training the three of you. I expect you to follow what he says and learn well. Till, then get home and get rest. You too Iruka. Take care of those wounds."

Naruto smiled. "You got it ojii-san! I'll see you at 8 tomorrow Iruka sensei."

Iruka nodded to Naruto. "Hai Hokage-sama. See you."

The Hokage watched as the two left and relaxed. He pulled out his pipe and lit it. _There. Minato. Kushina. Now, I hope Naruto is set on the path to becoming a ninja like both of you._

* * *

 **So, there you have it. The first chapter. For those of you who've read Shifts in Life, I'm sure you see the similarities. I promise the next chapters will be much more unique. I'll try to update ASAP. I also really recommend you check out The Engulfing Silences work. Be sure to review so I know what I can do better.**


	2. Training with Iruka

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. So, from here on out this will be fairly original though I'm going to stick decently closely to canon, I'll add "filler" of sorts to adequately flesh out the growth of Naruto and team 7. Eventually, I'll split away from canon. Here we go. Also, I want to reiterate that I won't be pairing Naruto with Hinata or Sakura. I probably should also state that I'm not comfortable writing slash pairings really since I have no experience when it comes to them. I'm open to suggestions about who else you might want to see him with though.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own Naruto. I probably never will.**

* * *

"hey" – **Normal speech**

' _Hey'_ – **Character thoughts**

" **Hey** " – **Kyuubi or similar creature speech**

 _ **Hey**_ **– Kyuubi or similar creature thoughts**

 **The Tale of Naruto Namikaze.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

The sun's rays seeped into Naruto's room slowly bathing the bed in light. But, unlike the day before, Naruto was already up and about. He'd had trouble sleeping the night before, a mixture of anxiety about the information he'd learned from Mizuki and excitement for improving himself. The blond boy smiled to himself a little as he munched on a cup of ramen.

 _Iruka-sensei believes in me! I can't let him down Dattebayo!_

He had a meeting scheduled with his former sensei. Iruka had promised to go over how Naruto could improve and what he needed to work on the most. Checking all of his equipment once and tying his brand new headband to his forehead, Naruto took off towards the academy.

* * *

Naruto arrived at the academy a little earlier than 8 and walked towards Iruka's office. He burst in with a loud "Iruka-sensei! I'm here!" only to see Iruka glaring at him with tic marks on his head.

"Naruto! This is a school! It would be prudent for you to keep your voice down! And knock first next time!" Iruka yelled as Naruto rubbed the back of his head. _Geez. I suppose I should've known that yesterday wasn't going to affect his personality too much._

"Hehe. Sorry sensei. I won't do it next time. So, what're we going to do today? Ojii-san said that you'd go over what I should do to improve before I get placed on a genin team." Naruto said as he bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Iruka sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't too sure how to handle this. Time to take it to the basics though, he supposed.

"Let's start with a spar, Naruto. You can use any jutsu you want. I won't use jutsu." Iruka said stretching lightly. "Let's head to a training field".

They moved outside to the academy's training ground. This training ground was soft clay flooring to make falls a little easier. There were a few forested areas for practicing combat around trees and a small lake to teach young ninja how to swim.

"Okay, Naruto. So you can see what your level is, we're going to spar. Come at me with everything you got. We're enemy ninja till I call off the spar." Iruka looked at Naruto carefully once before adding, "And to make things a little fair, I won't use ninjutsu. Understand?"

Naruto nodded eagerly. "You got it sensei! I'm gonna kick your butt just like I did to Mizuki-teme last night!"

Iruka chuckled to himself. He remembered being this way as a chunin. Considering how many times Naruto had pranked him, he was going to enjoy this.

"Alright Naruto. Start!" Iruka yelled stepping into a simple ready stance.

As soon as the words left Iruka's mouth, Naruto shot forward towards Iruka and threw a right roundhouse kick toward Iruka's head. Iruka sighed at his student's straightforwardness and simply grabbed the leg with his left hand. Snickering a bit at Naruto's expression, Iruka turned and promptly swung Naruto over his head and slammed him into the ground. Pivoting, he swung Naruto back over his head and slammed him down on the other side and then let go before backing away a few steps listening to the groans of his student as he stood back up.

"What's wrong Naruto? I thought you were going to kick my butt?" Iruka said snickering at Naruto as the latter stood up wincing at the pain.

Naruto growled at the jab before rushing Iruka this time aiming a punch with his right hand at the man. Again, Iruka simply sidestepped the punch while using his left hand to grab Naruto's leg. Tugging to knock Naruto off balance a little, Iruka hit his student in the ribs with a sharp left roundhouse kick. Then, Iruka stepped behind Naruto's legs and used the position to throw Naruto to the ground before backing away.  
"That's the best you can do? Come on! Try to kill me or you won't get even close!" Iruka said looking totally unaffected by Naruto's attempts to attack him.

Naruto growled and summoned three shadow clones. The four of them drew kunai and rushed Iruka yelling "Fine, but don't get mad at me when you end up dead".

Iruka laughed and dodged an attack from one of the clones. Grabbing the clone by the arms, Iruka hoisted the clone before beating another clone with it dispelling both. Then he ducked under another clone's attack that was aimed at the back of his neck. He reached up and grabbed the clone's arm as the real Naruto rushed at Iruka from the front. Then, he threw the clone at Naruto knocking him back a bit and dispelling the clone.

* * *

Naruto took a few steps back blinking a bit as the smoke from clone dissipated and stared at the place where Iruka had been just prior. "Where'd sensei go?"

"Behind you." Came his instructor's voice as he felt a hand grab his back collar. He let out a little yell as he felt Iruka pick him up and throw him into a tree. He felt himself collide with the tree. Groaning, he looked up only to see Iruka's left fist flying towards his face. He dodged at the last minute with a yelp. Unfortunately for him, as he dodged he felt Iruka's other fist bury itself into his left side. He groaned as the force of the punch lifted him from the ground only to feel Iruka's left foot collide with the side of his head knocking him into the ground. Before he could stand, Iruka picked him up and punched him harshly in the gut followed by two punches to the face.

He fell against the ground and heard Iruka walk away from him. He slowly stood holding his side and grimacing. _Who knew Iruka-sensei could hit that hard? What the fuck was the force of that hit?!_

"What's wrong Naruto? Is that all you can take?" Iruka said taunting. "Man, at this point, there's no way you're going to become Hokage. It'll probably be Sasuke who'll end up marrying Sakura too."

Naruto froze at the words and slowly began trembling with rage. Shooting a glare at Iruka, Naruto formed the seal for the Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Channeling a large amount chakra, he summoned around 50 clones. Each drew a kunai before rushing at Iruka. "I'll make you regret saying that sensei!"

Iruka's eyes hardened as he drew two kunai of his own before running at speeds Naruto had never seen towards the clones. Before Naruto even knew what'd happened, he found himself alone against Iruka, every clone destroyed. Naruto grit his teeth and rushed towards Iruka who'd put the kunai away. As Naruto closed in and tried to slash at Iruka, he felt a hand wrap itself around his wrist. Again, he felt Iruka's knee drill into his stomach followed by a swift kick to his head. Before he'd hit the ground, six punches drilled themselves into his gut knocking the air from him as well.

Naruto collapsed on the floor breathing hard from the damage done to him. He slowly started to get up but again before he could, he felt Iruka's foot connect into his side knocking him over.

"Alright Naruto. That's enough." Iruka said to his student who immediately lay down on his back with a groan. "How do you think that went?"

Naruto groaned again. "That was terrible. You're a lot stronger than you look Iruka-sensei."

Iruka chuckled at his student. "Well, I am a chunin Naruto. You, a new genin with not even a day of experience, attacked me head on the whole time. More importantly, you didn't use kawarimi even once against me when I was beating you down."

Naruto dropped his head a little as he heard Iruka's critique.

"Just remember Naruto, a Hokage is someone who uses their mind. As you train more and more and as your prepare for chunin and jonin, that's what will be tested. How well can you plan? How far ahead can you think? A ninja isn't made from someone who knows a thousand jutsu. They're not someone who experiment lots to gain secrets that no other ninja has touched. A great ninja is someone who can trick their opponent and take them down with minimal effort and at the same time can use impressive technique to beat their opponent. Ninja use deception, deceit, and are masters of stealth. That's what you'll need to learn."

As Iruka finished his speech, he saw Naruto looking at him intently absorbing the information. He smiled at his student proudly.

Somewhere in the distance, a white haired jonin with a mask on his face and one eye covered by his Konoha headband sneezed all over his precious little orange book and instantly swore vengeance against whomever made him sneeze.

Somewhere else, a white skinned man with long black hair looked up as he felt his skin crawl. _Someone is speaking behind my back about me_. His musing was interrupted by his white haired assistant entering the room while wiping his glasses.

Back with Naruto and Iruka, Naruto sat on the ground looking at Iruka as he processed the words his sensei was saying. "That makes sense, sensei."

"Good" Iruka nodded. "Then let's get to what else you need to learn. I suggest you start reading up on history, geography, psychology, and politics Naruto. These are important skills for ninja to understand especially if you want to become the Hokage. Additionally, I also think you'll want to start practicing employing more control and discipline. Ninja are quiet and controlled. That just makes you seem cooler too."

Naruto nodded again. He understood that being Hokage meant being smarter. He'd definitely have to take the time to read more to train his mind.

"One last thing and we'll start the next part of today's training Naruto. This is a quote from Sandaime-sama. If qualities of Heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. If Earthly abilities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack. When both Heaven and Earth are opened together, the path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever. This person is the secret way... that guides us on from this place today. Do you understand what this means?"

Naruto simply shook his head. He had no idea. It made no sense to him.

Iruka nodded, understanding. After all, the first time he saw it, he hadn't understood either. "Heaven is intelligence and knowledge. Earth is physical ability and stamina. It is fighting ability. What Sandaime-sama is saying here is that if you want to become a ninja of note, a powerful ninja, both of these are required. In that regard, Sasuke is far ahead of you. But, don't worry. With training, you can catch up in no time!"

Naruto stood up and nodded excitedly. "Got it sensei! I'll catch up in no time! Then I'll catch up and surpass you!"

Iruka burst out laughing. He reached out and rubbed Naruto's head fondly. "I'm sure you will Naruto. Now let's get started on the next thing you need. A ninja needs to have control. It's around 9 o'clock right now. For the next hour, I want you to sit by the lake and keep this leaf stuck to your head. Meditate there for the whole hour. Make sure that the leaf drop as little as possible."

Naruto groaned. "Do I have to? Meditation is so dumb. How does it ever help ninja?" He complained loudly pouting a bit as he stared up at his instructor.

Iruka sighed again at his whining student. He understood how boring this exercise was. After all, as an academy student, he'd been just as hyper and energetic as Naruto was. But, it was essential to ninja to learn. "Naruto, meditation is very important for ninja. It helps you regulate your chakra and learn to control it. It also allows you to spend time with yourself and learn to control yourself for long periods. It also teaches you to appreciate quietness. This is important because learning to feel and understand your chakra from meditation also helps you spot genjutsu that have been cast on you. Got it?"

Naruto nodded puffing his cheeks out in disappointment. "Yeah. I got it." With that he sat by the lake with his eyes closed and legs crossed. Then, Naruto pressed a leaf to his head, as he'd done so many times during the control exercises in class and set about focusing on keeping the leaf pressed to his head.

* * *

An hour later, Naruto had to admit that the meditation was fairly relaxing and the feeling of his chakra circling through his system to his forehead was interesting. Occasionally, he would feel a tug at his chakra and a different chakra, a malevolent one thread into his own stream. He simply shrugged it off and assumed it was the Kyuubi's chakra occasionally slipping out which wasn't that big a deal since it almost always disappeared immediately. Best of all, he'd only dropped the leaf four times.

As he mused, he heard Iruka walking up to him. "Alright Naruto, that's enough meditation."

Naruto stood with a groan and stretched. "That wasn't too bad actually. What's next sensei?"

Iruka nodded. He figured after sitting still for that long it was time for Naruto to get some movement in. "Alright then, let's get you some physical exercise. Give me 10 laps around the training field, thirty push-ups, and 30 sit-ups."

Naruto nodded and took off at a moderate pace.

* * *

After the mild physical exercise, Iruka and Naruto had taken an hour break to get lunch together at Ichiraku Ramen Stand. Naruto had been coming to this place since he was a child often with Sarutobi on rough nights. Three different Anbu Black-Ops had brought him to the restaurant after rescuing him from a mob. To him, the owners of this stand were the first people after the Hokage to truly recognize him and care for him. He spent his time, hastily gobbling bowl after bowl of ramen while excitedly telling Teuchi, the older owner of the store, and his daughter, Ayame, about the events of his training with his sensei, about how he was going to become Hokage in no time with what Iruka was teaching him, and about how incredible every bowl of Ramen he'd eaten was.

As Naruto yelled his conversation at the duo, Iruka sat quietly, eating his own bowl of ramen was contemplating what the next step to take with his student should be. _Naruto has incredible stamina and great fighting potential. His weakest point however, the thing that sets him behind many other students, is his chakra control and his mind. That's what the thing I need to work on with him. His jonin-sensei can work with him on his strengths._

With a plan in motion, Iruka started to speed up on his intake of his lunch. Finishing his bowl, he turned to Naruto who was finishing up his 8th bowl. "Alright Naruto. Let's get back to training."

Naruto nodded excitedly jumped up and excitedly yelled. "What's next sensei? Are we gonna learn some jutsu? Are you gonna teach me some special chunin sparring? I know! I bet we're gonna go over how to destroy an enemy ninja with one technique right?"

Iruka chuckled to himself again. _Oh this is gonna be fun._

"THE LIBRARY?" Naruto yelled his face turning a little red as he and Iruka approached a larger round building around 3 blocks away from the Hokage tower. The building was a three story building stocked full of books. The first floor was partitioned into books for civilians and books for the basics of shinobi. The second floor was designed for genin and chunin to find information and the third floor was for those of chunin rank or above. The third floor was also largely quarantined for jonin.

"Why are we going to the library?" Naruto yelled at his sensei. "I thought we were going to train!"

Iruka sighed. He'd been sighing a lot today. The stress probably wasn't good for his health. "Naruto, I told you earlier. A good ninja trains his mind as well as his body. You have lots of stamina and tons of chakra. What you need now, is control and to build your intelligence. So, the first step to that is reading."

He stopped to make sure that Naruto was still listening. Seeing Naruto still looking at him intently, albeit disappointedly, he continued. "What I want you to do after we walk in will be to find one book on each of the topics I assign. You will read each of them and then I will test you on them. Got it?"

Naruto nodded with a sigh of his own. "Okay. But, I'm not allowed in the library sensei." He looked down as if ashamed.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "You didn't pull a prank in there did you Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head still looking down. "I didn't do anything. The mean library lady said that I don't deserve the knowledge in there."

Iruka was furious. This was a travesty. Masking his anger, he turned to Naruto. "Don't worry Naruto. You're a ninja under the direct rule of the Hokage. There's no way they can say anything to you. I'll make sure you can get in. Come on."

Grabbing Naruto by the shoulders, Iruka steered him toward the library and walked behind him into the library.

As they walked into the library, Iruka walked Naruto towards a small table in the building and sat him down. Then in a quiet voice, he began giving instructions.

"Okay. I want you to get 5 from these categories. First, I want you to get a book on basic chakra control and theory. Second, get yourself a book on the history of Konoha, anything about Konoha's history will do. We have tons of stuff for you to learn about. The third kind of book you want to look for is a fiction book. The fourth book I want you to get is a biography. Find one famous ninja in all of ninja history and read up on him. The final thing I want you to get is any book of your choice. That's all. Once you get them, come back here with them."

Naruto nodded. "Got it sensei!"

Moving quickly he began to walk towards the first book area he wanted to go to. As he walked, the librarian approached him rather loudly and viciously snarling about how the brat shouldn't be in the library. Before he'd even finished an entire sentence, however, she found herself pinned against a wall by the neck by Iruka with a razor sharp kunai centimeters from her eyes.

"If you ever try to keep a shinobi of this village from entering this building, especially my student, I'll tear out your eyes before reporting you to Hokage-sama for execution. Do I make myself clear?" Iruka snarled at the terrified woman.

She nodded frequently and Iruka let her go dropping her to the ground where she grabbed her neck coughing.

Iruka ignored her and turned to Naruto. "Work Naruto."

* * *

Naruto smiled and took off to get the books he needed.

A few minutes later, Naruto was seated at a table reading the first of his books that Iruka had demanded, a book on the history of Konoha. The writing in the book was horrendously boring and the book was mostly just dates followed by events. He'd read a few pages, slowly then would get distracted by the various ninja around him or by something outside a window. Every time he got distracted, however, Iruka was quick to smack him on the head with a book of his own before making him read more.

This continued for an hour or two before, Iruka noticing that Naruto had no more patience to read, decided to call for a break and a change in pace.

"Alright, Naruto, that's enough for today. Let's go spar one more time before we call it quits for tonight. Then, we'll get dinner." Iruka said snapping his book shut and standing up.

Naruto nodded, yawning a bit and stretching as he stood to follow his sensei.

"Get your books checked out, drop them off at your apartment, and then meet me at the academy training grounds".

* * *

Naruto arrived at the training, eager to try again against his instructor. Arriving there, however, he only found an empty training ground. Scratching the back of his head with his hand, he began slowly walking around the training ground.

"Huh. Iruka-sensei is late. I can't wait to make fun of him about it after all those times he yelled at me for it." Naruto snickered as he casually walked towards a shady spot to rest for a bit. He froze suddenly, however, as he felt something cold press itself against his neck.

"Dead." Came Iruka's voice. Releasing his pupil and stepping into Naruto's field of view, he shook his head at his student. "You need to be more aware Naruto. That was much too easy. If I was an enemy ninja, you'd be dead."

Naruto frowned at his sensei. "That wasn't fair sensei! You beat me because you surprised me!"

Iruka sighed. "The life of a ninja isn't fair Naruto. We're assassins. We use stealth, tricks, and surprise as our weapons. You need to be aware of that." Stretching slightly, he took a few steps away from Naruto. "But, since you want a head on fight, come at me. Let's see what you've got."

Naruto grinned before taking off at his instructor charging forward.

Iruka smiled at his student's approach. He was going to enjoy this too. ' _Time to get revenge for all those pranks.'_

* * *

Naruto sat bruised and battered in Iruka's apartment staring at his plate. "First you kick my butt, then you make me eat vegetables. You're really sadistic, sensei."

Iruka burst out laughing as he looked at the plate in front of his student which had rice, some steamed carrots and spinach, some fish and a bowl of Miso soup. "Eating healthy is part of becoming a better ninja too Naruto. I'm sure your new sensei will insist on it too starting tomorrow."

"Oh yeah! We get assigned to our new teams tomorrow! I can't wait! Do you know who our sensei is? What kind of missions do we get to go on? I bet it's something really cool!" Naruto began excitedly.

"Calm down Naruto!" Iruka yelled. "You'll just have to wait and see. Now eat your food. You should probably head back soon and get bed."

Naruto nodded before gobbling his food.

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay with this one everyone. I got caught up with final exams and projects which totally pulled me apart. Now that summer is here, I'll try to update much more often. Let me know what you guys think and what I can do better. Thanks for your support!**


	3. Kakashi's Genin Test

**Author's Note: Hey guys! This is the chapter where I'm hoping the story picks up again. I'm gonna stick a bit closely to canon but I'll deviate as the story moves forward. Thanks for reading.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did though.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal character speech**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal character thoughts**

" **Hey"** – **Kyuubi or similar creature speech**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Kyuubi or similar creature thoughts**

* * *

 **The Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

Naruto stepped out of his apartment, taking in the crisp morning air, and stretched slightly. He'd gotten up extra early today, excited about getting placed onto a team and to go on missions. ' _It's the start of my career to become Hokage!'_ Happily munching on a cup of ramen, Naruto descended down to the street below and began a happy walk to the academy. There was no one out and about this early, which meant that the day hadn't started with the cold glares that people sent his way either, a good start. _'I hope I don't get placed on a team with Sasuke-teme. I'm gonna hope that I end up with Sakura-chan! As long as I'm with Sakura-chan and not with Sasuke-teme, I don't care who the third person is!'_ He smiled again as he imagined himself with the Hokage hat on sitting on a throne with Sakura feeding him his beloved Ichiraku ramen as he used Sasuke as a foot stool.

He was so lost in this daydream, in fact, that he didn't notice that he'd reached the academy till he walked right into the closed door to the building smacking his head hard against the large wooden door. Yelping, Naruto looked both directions quickly to make sure no one saw him, before swinging the door open and hurrying to his classroom. As he moved in, he noticed Iruka focused on last minute grading and other plans for the summer.

"GOOD MORNING IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, grinning as he noticed the teacher startle, scratching a red line across the paper he was currently grading.

Iruka took a moment to compose himself before shooting a heated glare at Naruto. "Good morning Naruto. I see you still have energy after all that work yesterday. I'll be sure to let your Jonin sensei know to remedy that."

Naruto just waved him off with a laugh. "I finished that book on Konoha history yesterday. It was so boring. But, I guess I learned some stuff." He'd sat late into the night pouring over the book. In reality, he was fascinated by the Hokage, by each of their stories, and by what each had sacrificed for the village. His hero had always been the Fourth, the hero who sealed the fox into him, but now he understood the sacrifices made by the first and second and why the third was the Hokage too. The information had only served to increase his resolve to join their ranks. He just didn't need Iruka to assign more boring books to read.

"I'm impressed you finished that fast, Naruto. I expect you to keep up that work ethic after you join your genin team." Iruka said with a smile at his favorite student.

"Do you already know what the teams are sensei?" Naruto asked edging a bit closer to the desk, hoping to maybe get a peek at the listing.

Iruka, however, shifted his papers so that they covered the names and smirked. "Yes, Naruto. I do. You'll just have to wait till everyone's here before you find out though."

Naruto pouted at his teacher's response before sighing and finding a seat. "Fine. I guess I'll just read till then."

Iruka nodded at his student. "Good idea. One day training with me, isn't enough to catch up to the others in your class."

Naruto, having finished his book on history, decided the next book he would cover was the biography he'd picked. Deciding that the history books gave enough information to him on the Hokage and prominent figures such as the Sannin, Naruto had chosen a book on Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha. The story of the ninja was tremendously interesting to Naruto and he quickly found himself immersed in the story of the man.

As he read, the room filled with more and more voices as students flooded in and ironically, Naruto found himself seated on the same row as Sasuke, with just a seat between them. _'Tch. Of course I'd end up on the same row as the stupid teme. Why couldn't he go sit somewhere else?'_ Muttering to himself about stuck up jerks, Naruto returned to his book. He didn't get a chance to read long though, as sudden pounding was heard accompanied by arguing and yelling. Naruto looked up to see two girls burst through the door, one pink haired and one blonde.

The pink haired one was yelling, "Hah! Take that Ino-pig! I'm first!"

The blonde, immediately responded. "No way, forehead! My foot was a whole inch ahead of yours!"

The two continued this argument till suddenly Sakura took off running, running up to Naruto. "Naruto!"

Naruto's face burst into a bright smile. "Good morning, Sakura-ch-".

Before he could finish his loud greeting, however, he felt a fist make hard contact with his head followed by a screech. "Move it! I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto grimaced. He should've expected that. Despite his massive crush on the girl, Sakura seemed to only have eyes for one person, her beloved Sasuke, who didn't care for the girl at all.

"What are you doing here anyway, Baka? Don't you know that only people who passed the exam get to be genin?" Sakura continued as she moved next to her beloved Sasuke-kun.

Naruto sighed to himself, he should've expected this behavior. Putting on his usual happy smile again, he pointed at his headband. "I passed Sakura-chan! That's what the headband means!"

"Whatever." Sakura rolled her eyes and then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun! Are you excited to be placed on a genin team? I hope we end up on a team together!" Sakura shrieked at Sasuke.

Wincing a bit at the pinkette's volume, Sasuke responded. "Hn."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the interaction and returned to his book, reading up a bit more on the White Fang who seemed to have been one of Konoha's best jonin. It was actually very surprising to him that the man wasn't better known despite his incredible power, which some even rumored rivaled the Sannin.

As Naruto continued his reading, he noticed Iruka stand and begin to speak.

"Alright! Listen up! I'm going to start announcing the teams that will be made. Team 1 will consists of Miwa Abumi, Jinsuke Hayashizaki, and Toshiro Yura. Your sensei will be Genma Shiranui."

Naruto sighed and continued reading, making sure however to stay focused enough to hear his name. ' _Please don't let me be on a team with Sasuke-teme'_.

Iruka's voice cut through Naruto's thoughts. "Team Seven shall be made up of Naruto Uzumaki…"

' _Please not Sasuke! Please let me be with Sakura-chan!'_

"Sakura Haruno".

' _Yatta!'_ Naruto thought with a big grin taking over his face.

Sakura groaned at the thought. _'Great. Now I have to deal with him constantly begging me for a date_.'

"And finally" Iruka continued. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"WHAT!?" Came Naruto's voice as he jumped up throwing a finger towards Sasuke as he spoke, ignoring Sakura's triumphant cheering.

"Sensei, this has to be the stupidest idea ever! We don't get along at all! Why would anyone place us on a team together when we hate each other's guts? Whoever made these teams was totally wrong. There is a definite mistake here."

Iruka let out a sigh and suppressed a chuckle at the same time. He was expecting this. "Quiet Naruto! Customarily, the teams are made up of the Rookie of the Year, the best Kunoichi, and the Dead Last! You were the dead last this year and Sasuke was the Rookie of the Year."

Naruto sat down with a sigh as the rest of the classed laughed at him.

"Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi." As the words left Iruka's mouth, Naruto instantly perked up.

' _Hatake? Like Hatake Sakumo? Is this person related to the White Fang?'_

Before he could ask however, Iruka had continued on. "Team Eight will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai. Team Nine is still in circulation. Team Ten will be Choji Akamichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

' _Sarutobi? Someone related to Oji-san?'_ Naruto's pondered again. _'I wonder if he's strong like Oji-san too_.'

"Alright class. Your sensei should be here soon. Please wait patiently for them to arrive." Iruka said.

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, the door opened and a tall man with hair spiked back slightly and a beard stepped in. He wore the usual jonin attire but at his waist was a white cloth bearing the symbol of the Hi no Kuni. He casually puffed on his cigarette for a second while assessing the class in front of him. "Team Ten. Come with me."

Turning, he stepped out of the door stopping briefly to mutter a hello to someone as they stepped in. This jonin was a tall beautiful lady with gorgeous red eyes and long brown hair. She wore a dress that appeared to be made from bandages.

"Team Eight. Follow me please." Without another word, she left leaving her team to hurry after her.

As Kiba passed Naruto, he yelled, "We got a total babe, Akamaru! This is gonna be great."

Naruto sighed at the statement. ' _I can't believe I let him get a better class rank than me.'_

* * *

Almost an hour passed and every other team had left the room except for Naruto's. He had grown impatient yelling about his failure of a sensei and about how stupid it was that the jonin was so late.

"I'm starving! Where is this idiot sensei?" Came his yell again.

Sakura however had grown tired of the screaming. "SHUT UP NARUTO! I'm sick of your yelling. Your annoying Sasuke-kun too! Isn't that right Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the two before he proceeded to plan a quick but simple revenge against his sensei. He took an eraser and placed it at the top of the door in the crack and sat back ignoring Sakura's renewed screeches.

"Baka Naruto! You can't seriously expect a jonin to fall for that kind of a prank!" She waved her arm at him angrily while sneaking a glance towards Sasuke.

' _But, I hope it works! Serves that teacher right if it does anyway!'_ Inner Sakura cheered.

As she finished her statement, the door slid open and the eraser fell, right on to a white spiky haired man who wore a face mask, the standard jonin attire, but wore his headband pulled down over his left eye. As it fell, it bounced slightly before falling to the ground.

As soon as it happened, Naruto burst out laughing while Sakura frantically apologized and Sasuke simply glared at Naruto and at his new sensei.

' _Hmph. If he falls for such a simple trick, he must be pathetic._ ' Sasuke thought.

Kakashi, however, wasn't quite as pathetic as Sasuke thought. He knew the trap was there, of course, but any good ninja also knew the value of underestimation. This was step one to make his foolish little students underestimate him.

Smiling at the three genin in front of him, Kakashi held up his hand. "Team Seven. I'm your new sensei. My first impression of you is… I hate you."

Sakura's face fell quickly and Naruto just continued laughing while Sasuke intensified his glare.

"Meet me on the roof in 10 minutes. I'll grab us some lunch. I won't be late this time." With those words, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves as the three genin quickly made their way up to the roof.

By the time the three made it to the roof, Kakashi was casually sitting on the roof with 4 boxes near him. He gestured for the three genin to sit as he spoke. "Let's start with introductions. After that, we'll eat and as we do, we'll talk about the team as we move forward."

Turning to Sakura, he nodded. "You first pinky."

Sakura frowned at the nickname before she looked at her sensei. "Um… could you go first so we have an idea of how to do it?"

Kakashi nodded. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes I can't tell you about till you're old enough. I don't particularly care enough to tell you about my dislikes. I have some hobbies, though I supposed I do enjoy reading. I don't think I wanna tell you about my dreams for the future."

The three genin sweat dropped. _'All he told us is his name and that he likes to read.'_ They all thought.

"Now it's your turn Pinky".

Sakura nodded. "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are…" She glanced at Sasuke. "My hobbies are…" Another glance at Sasuke. "My dreams for the future…" Another glance at Sasuke followed by a slight nose bleed. "Oh! And my dislikes are Ino-pig and Naruto!" Sakura shrieked.

Kakashi winced at the volume slightly while Naruto grimaced. ' _Great. A fangirl. We'll have to work on that.'_ Storing the thought, Kakashi picked up the first bento that he had which was gray but with a small Sakura flower on top.

Sakura accepted with a bow and opened the box. As soon as she did, however, she immediately became disappointed and almost instinctively pushed the box away. Naruto and Sasuke, both overcome by curiosity, looked into her box to find it full of two burgers and lots of fries.

"Sakura." Kakashi said. "You are horribly thin for a Kunoichi and fairly lacking in muscle mass. You are probably also prone to what all girls your age seem to be prone to, dieting. As a ninja, you'll work off all the food you eat and our work is anything but easy. If you diet and avoid this kind of food, you'll grow weak. Someday, you'll encounter a more powerful ninja, and you'll die. So, to prevent that, eat up. Besides, young men tend to prefer a girl that eats more than one that starves herself."

Sakura muttered as she glanced at Sasuke, who continued to look straight ahead. Then, tentatively, she took a bite of her burger and slowly sped up the pace of her intake.

Nodding as the girl began to eat, Kakashi turned to Naruto who was almost drooling at the sight of Sakura's bento. "You next blondie."

Naruto turned to Kakashi and began at his usual loud volume. "Yosh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Dattebayo! I like Ramen, especially Ichiraku's Ramen, Hokage Oji-san, Iruka-sensei, and training! I dislike the three minutes it takes to make Ramen. I also dislike the people who can't tell the difference between a kunai and the scroll it's sheathed into."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto oddly while Kakashi remained impassive in expression. ' _So, he knows about the Kyuubi and has come to naturally dislike people who discriminate against him. I hope that doesn't create any issues._ '

"My dream." Naruto paused to look out at the faces of the Hokage on the mountain. "I guess that's two fold." He resumed quieting. "Long term, my goal is to become the Hokage. But, short term, I wanna become a great ninja like the Sannin or the White Fang!" Sasuke and Sakura both scoffed at the statement while Kakashi simply smiled a bit.

' _The White Fang huh? I wonder if he realizes that's my father.'_ Kakashi thought as he held out a gray box similar to Sakura's. This one had a spiral like the one on Naruto's jumpsuit and on the back of his own vest on top.

Naruto excitedly accepted his box and quickly opened it up, only to be disappointed by the food inside. It was full of leafy greens like spinach as well as a few cuts of meat.

Kakashi, seeing his disappointment began. "Naruto, like Sakura, your diet is extremely unhealthy. You eat too much Ramen. Seeing this, I spoke with Hokage-sama and he has given me permission to monitor your diet as long as I am your sensei. This doesn't mean no ramen. Just that you have to eat other things. You can get Ramen with extra money, but every Saturday, I'll be buying food for you for the week using your money. Tell me what kind of food you like from what's in that box."

Naruto sighed. "I guess this is part of being a ninja too." With those words, he began eating.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke next. "Alright broody. You're up."

Sasuke glared. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like udon and tomatoes. I dislike sweet things. My dream… My dream for the future is to restore the Uchiha clan and to kill certain man."

Kakashi nodded. ' _Revenge. We'll work on that too._ ' He held out a box similar to the other bento boxes that had the Uchiha symbol on top.

Sasuke opened the box and like the other two, he frowned and glared up at Kakashi. The box was full of dango. "I hate sweets."

Kakashi nodded. "I understand. But, that's part of being a ninja too. Sometimes, you have to buckle up and eat sweet foods. That's a side of life that you have to learn to appreciate because as you get older, finding sweet things gets a little harder in the bitter world of shinobi. And sometimes, it's good to eat foods you dislike."

Sasuke sighed and looked at his teammates who were tentatively eating their own food. With another sigh, he began to eat his dango.

Kakashi opened his own box, which was full of curry bread, one of his least favorite foods thanks to a certain green spandex clad jonin. He began to take bites of his food.

"Now, let's talk about the future of the team." Kakashi spoke, drawing the genin's attention to himself. "Tomorrow, we will begin with a short training exercise of sorts."

Naruto perked up quickly. "A training exercise? What's it gonna be sensei?" He asked excitedly only for Kakashi to begin chuckling in response.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi quieted his chuckling a bit. "Sorry. I just forgot you didn't know about this next part. Tomorrow will be the start of your official genin test."

"WHAT!?" Came Naruto's voice. "We already passed that!"

Kakashi chuckled a little more. "That was just the easy one to weed out those too pathetic to continue. This test is one that makes sure you have what it takes. It has a fail rate of 66% though. Out of all those genin that passed the academy test, only 9 of you will continue forward. Let's start tomorrow. Be sure to bring all your tools and we'll start at 5 o'clock sharp. Oh! And be I suggest you don't eat breakfast, you might throw up! You're dismissed. See you bright and early."

Kakashi almost burst out laughing at the expression on the faces of his new students. Sasuke looked a bit more broody and frustrated than usual. Sakura looked like she was going to puke already from the anxiety. Naruto looked a weird mix between fear and determination. This was going to a fun test.

Slowly, Sasuke got up and walked away followed almost immediately by Sakura who began to pester him for a date to plan out a "battle strategy for the next day". Naruto, however, hung back and walked up to his sensei.

"Ne, sensei. Are you related to the White Fang?" Naruto asked Kakashi who stood casually as his student approached him.

Kakashi eye smiled at his student. "Yep! He was my dad."

Naruto began jumping up and down. "That's so cool! He's an incredible ninja!" Naruto almost shouted. "I'm reading a book about him." He pulled out his biography and showed it to Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled at his student's enthusiasm and began flipping through the pages. "What prompted you to read about him Naruto?"

"Well, Hokage Oji-san told me I needed to know about history and really polish my skills as a ninja. So, yesterday I worked on my taijutsu and basic knowledge with Iruka sensei. He made me get 5 books at the library. One of those had to be a biography and I didn't wanna read on a ninja that was really popular with history books since that was one I had to read too!"

Kakashi nodded understandingly. "It's nice to see someone looks up to dad. Get some rest Naruto. Tomorrow's gonna be tough."

Naruto nodded and after saying goodbye sped off to prepare for the next day.

* * *

Naruto decided that his last task would be to meet with Iruka once more with some questions and then head to either the library or to visit the old Hokage.

With that in mind, he took off to meet his old sensei. He jumped in through the window to Iruka's office and loudly announced his presence. "Iruka-sensei!"

As soon as he did, he felt a piece of chalk hit him squarely between eyes. "What is it, Naruto?" Naruto rubbed face as he responded.

"So, I finished the book on history and on the White Fang. I wanna grab a book that's special interest next. Do you have any recommendations?"

Iruka looked at Naruto. "I'm impressed that you finished those books so fast. Have you tried asking your new jonin sensei?"

Naruto shook his head. "He doesn't really know me well yet. I wanna see what you think."

Iruka nodded. That made sense to him. "A lot of shinobi have specialties. They have specialties such as specific jutsu, weapons, or even styles of a certain jutsu type. I'm not sure which of those you could research. Perhaps ask the Hokage?"

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Good idea! I was planning to go by and visit since I haven't spoken to him in a while. I'll head off there."

* * *

Naruto knocked on the Hokage's door before simply walking in. "Hey Oji-san!"

The old hokage looked up at the young genin and smiled. "Hello Naruto! How are you?"

"I'm great! Are you still doing that boring old paperwork?"

Sarutobi sighed before glaring at the large stacks of paper in front of him. "I am. Unfortunately, this work never seems to end. I never understand how the fourth would finish all this work as quickly as he did."

Naruto laughed happily. "I guess he really was a flash all the time. Say, Oji-san, I have a question."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow before leaning back. "Go ahead Naruto. What was your question?"

"Iruka sensei said I should get a book about a topic I'm interested in and I'm not really sure what I should read. I want to read something that'll kind of develop into a speciality for myself. I was wondering if you have any recommendations."

The old Hokage smiled to himself. "I'm sure I can think of something." The Hokage stood up and began to walk around the room.

The wheels in Sarutobi's head were spinning like crazy. _'This is an opportunity to see how Naruto takes to the kind of jutsu that made his parents so famous. I think fuinjutsu is the definite thing to tell him right now.'_

Sarutobi looked up for a second at the picture of the fourth Hokage that hung directly across his desk and smiled before turning back to the young genin near him.

"I believe I have just the thing you need actually, Naruto." Sarutobi said brightly as he walked to the same place that Naruto had stolen the Forbidden Scroll from. He picked up a small book that lay near the same scroll and giving it a quick look through, he handed it to Naruto.

Naruto held the small blue book, similar in size to one of the orange books he'd seen the old Hokage read on occasion before. He looked for a title on the cover and finding nothing, he looked up at his surrogate grandfather.

Sarutobi chuckled a bit at the look. "Open the book. The title is on the inside."

Naruto opened the front cover and on the inside, he found the title: _Introduction to Sealing_. He looked up at Sarutobi again. "Fuinjutsu? I thought that was supposed to be really hard."

Sarutobi nodded. "It is hard. But, I think you have what it takes to learn it. I believe your sensei is Kakashi. He is fairly proficient in the skill as well. Many of the Hokage were known for their ability to seal. I am fairly decent. My sensei, the First and Second, were excellent at the art. The Fourth Hokage was a genius at it. If you are seeking to become one of us, perhaps this will help."

As he talked about the Hokage, he saw Naruto's eyes light up.

"You got it Oji-san. I'll have this down in no time." He yelled.

Sarutobi chuckled. "I'm sure you will Naruto-kun. But, I must offer a word of warning. You must be careful with this as you learn. Promise me you will follow the book and not skip anything. Fuinjutsu can easily kill or cripple someone who does not work properly."

Naruto nodded. "I promise. Now, I think I'm gonna go get ready for tomorrow morning. Kakashi sensei says we have a test."

The Hokage nodded. "Indeed. Good night Naruto."

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke up by 4 A.M. and took a quick cold shower, not that he minded. He had grown used to the cold water from the lack of any hot water to his office. After that, he walked to the kitchen and reached for a cup of ramen.

As he poured water in to it and prepared to toss it in the microwave, Kakashi's words from the day before came back. Naruto decided to ignore the suggestion, especially since Kakashi hadn't let him get ramen the night before anyway, and ate his cup. He packed his supplies, the book the Hokage had given him the night before, and took off to meet his team at training ground seven.

* * *

Naruto had arrived at the training ground almost fifteen minutes prior to five. However, more than three hours had passed and still Kakashi hadn't arrived. Naruto wasn't too upset though, as he sat with his back against a tree and tried to ignore Sakura's angry shrieks about their sensei's lateness and her flirting with Sasuke.

As he did, Naruto began reading the book he received from the Hokage. The first few pages had precautionary warnings of fuinjutsu and the author, a name he didn't recognize, recommended the student to practice handwriting while studying the book constantly because even one or two stray marks could cause havoc to students.

As the third hour passed, Kakashi appeared before his students in a puff of smoke.

"Good morning!" He smiled cheerily as he held up a hand in greeting.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Came Sakura's screech accompanied by a milder rebuke from Naruto.

Kakashi sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Well you see, what happened was that I was on my way here when a black cat crossed my path. So, to ward off the bad luck I had to go walk seven circles around the whole village."

Immediately Sakura yelled again. "LIAR!"

Kakashi ignored the pain in his ears and continued. "Anyway, let's get started for the test." As he talked, Kakashi held up two silver bells and pulled out a wooden alarm clock.

"All you have to do to pass, is get one of these bells from me before noon. Simple, right?"

Sakura immediately raised her hand. "But sensei, there are only two bells!"

Kakashi eye smiled. "Yep! Which means that no matter what, one of you will be sent back to the academy. Those of you who do not get a bell will be tied to a log and won't get lunch either."

As he said the word lunch, Sakura and Sasuke's stomachs growled. Naruto, however, was unfazed thanks to his breakfast.

Underneath his mask, Kakashi frowned and looked at Naruto. "Naruto, I thought I told you not to eat breakfast."

As he said these words, Sasuke and Sakura turned to glare at their teammate.

Naruto grinned. "Actually sensei, you said you suggest we don't so we won't throw up. But, food digests in three hours according to Hokage Oji-san. So, I won't throw up anyway and you only suggested."

Kakashi shrugged as the other two genin snorted. "Oh well. Make sure you come at me with the intent to kill. Otherwise you'll never get the bells."

Sakura looked at the white haired jonin. "What if you get hurt sensei?"

Kakashi chuckled at the genin as Naruto suppressed a snort. "I think I'll be okay Sakura. Now. Begin!"

As soon as he said the words, the three genin shot away from their sensei.

* * *

Kakashi stood in the middle of the open clearing in the training ground and casually looked around. _'Well, at least they all know how to hide themselves.'_

Almost as soon as he thought that, though, Naruto's voice came from behind him. "Hey, sensei. There's something wrong here."

Kakashi turned and raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "You're an odd one. You know that?" He asked the orange clad ninja.

Naruto shook his head at his sensei. "I'm not the odd one here. You are. Iruka sensei made me read a book on history recently. There's no such thing as a three man team. All genin teams consist of three genin and a jonin sensei. Your test doesn't make any sense."

Kakashi's surprise almost showed on his face. Almost. ' _That's unexpected. Did he figure out the trick to the exam? No. But, he's getting there.'_

Kakashi simply eye smiled. "Maybe! But, I'm changing things up a bit I suppose. Now, are you just going to stand there or try to get the bells?"

Naruto nodded. "May I please have the bells?"

Kakashi chuckled. "No. But, nice try. I've never had someone just ask for them."

Naruto shrugged. "You're a jonin. I don't think I'll be beating you. I suppose I'll just try."

With that, Naruto drew a kunai and charged at Kakashi who reached into his own pouch. As Naruto saw the jonin reach into the pouch, he stopped, only to sweat drop when the jonin pulled out a small orange book that he'd seen the Hokage also read.

Kakashi looked at Naruto over the book. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

Naruto looked at him, head cocked slightly. "You're gonna read while we fight?"

Kakashi chuckled. "I'm not too worried. You're probably too weak for me to be serious."

Naruto growled and charged at the jonin stabbing forward with the kunai. Kakashi stepped to the side and grabbed Naruto's wrist twisting it harshly, forcing the genin to drop the kunai. He then threw Naruto away. Naruto flipped in the air, so that he would land on his feet and then charged again at Kakashi attacking with an onslaught of punches and kicks that Kakashi simply wove through, while occasionally giggling at his Icha Icha.

Naruto growled and drew a kunai and slashed at the jonin only to find him suddenly gone.

Then, from behind him, he heard a voice. "The first skill of the Ninja is Taijutsu. Don't you know not to let your enemy behind you?" Before Naruto could react, he heard a warning yell from Sakura and then he felt Kakashi's fingers into his butt and felt himself go flying into a nearby lake.

* * *

As this happened, 3 things happened. First, Kakashi let out a yell of "One Thousand Years of Pain". Sakura face planted as she not only foolishly gave away her position but also mistook a glorified kancho for a tiger seal. Sasuke muttered to himself about revenge, the stupidity of Sakura caring about Naruto and foolishly giving away her position, and about some more revenge.

* * *

Naruto hit the water in the lake hard and felt the cool water surround him. As it did, he decided that it was time to change his approach. Kakashi was too strong for him. He put his fingers into his favorite hand seal and quickly created 20 clones which burst from the water and began to attack Kakashi. As this happened, another 2 clones quietly slipped away.

Naruto began to attack Kakashi with his clones from multiples angles and prepared to take the bells. Each time he got close, however, Kakashi simply found a way to escape using the Kawarimi jutsu or simply using a clone as a weapon. As the number of clones dwindled, Naruto took a few steps back and began to throw weapons at Kakashi, missing quite a few of the throws, hitting his own clones. Eventually, only he was left.

Kakashi smiled at Naruto. "Well… That was interesting. Are you done yet?"

Naruto just smiled as the two clones he'd split away earlier flung kunai at Kakashi. These found their mark hitting Kakashi's head. Before he could get too excited though, there was a puff of smoke and a log impaled with kunai took Kakashi's place.

Naruto growled before taking off in pursuit of his sensei again.

* * *

In a separate part of the woods, Sakura was moving quickly. ' _I hope I find Sasuke-kun soon. I really hope he's not hurt.'_

She stopped as she saw Kakashi and hid behind a tree. ' _Did he see me?'_ She peeked around the tree. Kakashi just continued to walk away from her location and as he did, Sakura let out a breath of relief. _'Good. I'd better find Sasuke-kun soon so he and I can pass this test together!'_ As she did, however she heard a voice from behind her.

"Pssst…. Sakura!"

Sakura turned to see Kakashi behind her and then promptly fell unconscious.

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes to see no one around her. _'Oh no! How long was I out? It doesn't look like the test is over yet. I'd better go find Sasuke-kun.'_

"Sakura." Came another voice from behind her. This voice she easily recognized.

"Sasuke-kun! You found me!" Sakura cheered as she turned to his direction. However, what she saw knocked the breath out of her. Sasuke, covered in wounds, stabbed all over with kunai, spears, shuriken, and swords.

He looked at her, coughed up some blood. "Help me, Sakura". He muttered before falling over.

Sakura responded the only way she knew. "SASUKE-KUN!" She screamed before she fainted as well.

* * *

Sakura's scream echoed through the training ground as Kakashi stood over her. "Maybe I overdid it a little."

Kakashi stared down at her a little longer. "Meh. She was supposed to be good at dealing with genjutsu anyway."

"Oh well! I'm moving on! Time to crush the last one!"

* * *

Sakura's scream echoed as Sasuke stopped and looked around. _'Looks like Sakura got taken down. What an idiot.'_

"Naruto and Sakura are weak. I'm not like them." Sasuke said as he turned to face Kakashi who simply smiled reading his book.

"We'll see about that after you get the bells." Kakashi said giggling into the pages of his book.

Sasuke growled as he attacked Kakashi coupling a large series of punches and kicks twisting in between the combo to reach for the bells, never getting close however as Kakashi just used his free hand to repeatedly knock him away. As Kakashi roughly pushed Sasuke away the last time, Kakashi twisted and began going through a series of fast hand signs which Kakashi easily recognized.

' _Interesting. A genin shouldn't have the chakra to perform the jutsu, but I suppose he is Itachi's brother.'_ Kakashi thought.

As he continued to read, he heard Sasuke call out. "Great Fireball Jutsu!"

As he did a blast of fire blew out from his mouth forming a huge ball that slowly moved towards Kakashi who continued reading as the flames engulfed him.

As the fire slowly faded Sasuke moved forward to get the bells only to see a burning log. ' _Shit. I forgot he could do that.'_

He quickly started looking around. _He's not to the left or right. He's not behind me. Check above for him. I don't see him there. Where is he?'_

"Below" came Kakashi's voice as Sasuke tried to jump away. The white haired ninja quickly wrapped his hands around Sasuke's ankles and pulled him into the ground so that only his head was above it.

"Earth Style: Headhunter jutsu." Kakashi said still reading his little orange book. "You certainly do stand out. But, you aren't anything more special than Naruto. Just a little better trained but I'm sure that won't last long. Anyway, I'm sure you've heard before that the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down the hardest."

With those words, Kakashi took off, still giggling into his orange book.

* * *

Naruto found Sakura collapsed on the ground and began to shake her. "Sakura, wake up. We need to find Sasuke-teme and team up. We can't beat sensei alone."

As Naruto shook her to try to wake her up, Sakura opened her eyes. "What?"

Naruto smiled. "Great! You're awake-". Before Naruto could finish speaking though, Sakura sat up frantically smashing her forehead into Naruto's nose knocking him over. With a quick screech of Sasuke-kun she took off running.

* * *

Sasuke's head continued to look around when he saw Sakura. He decided that she could help him out and called out. "Sakura. Help me". She turned to him and then with another screech passed out.

Sasuke just bowed his head and groaned. "Damn it."

Luckily before much longer, Naruto showed up. "Hey teme. You're a bit stuck there. Stop wasting time." He quickly began digging Sasuke out.

Sasuke gave him a quick, and strange, confused glare. "What are you doing, dobe? You do realize this is a competition."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah but there's no point to all of us failing. He's a jonin. I think the only chance we have is to work together, even if I do hate you with every inch of my guts".

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "As if you have anything to offer dobe. I don't need help from the dead last."

Naruto started to argue. "As if you can deal with a jonin alone, teme. No matter how good you are, what makes you think that one of the elite ninja in the village is going to lose to you?"

Sasuke grit his teeth turning away as Sakura sat up, quietly listening to the conversation between the two boys. "The man I need to kill is stronger. I don't have time to waste arguing with you."

Naruto tried again. "How do you know that? What if this ninja is stronger? Kakashi-sensei might be way stronger for all you know."

Before either of the boys could continue though, Sakura screeched. "Shut up baka! Didn't you hear what Sasuke-kun said? He doesn't need help from some no name loser like you. You're just a class clown and a dead last moron. It's probably because you don't have parents to tell you right from wrong anyway! You don't even have to have annoying parents to yell at you. Isn't that right, Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto grit his teeth at the pinkette's harsh words and clenched his fist tight. ' _Why? I didn't even do anything to her.'_

Before he could respond, however, Sasuke was the one that spoke up in a deadly whisper. "The feeling of a parent yelling at you isn't even remotely comparable to what the dobe feels."

Sakura gulped before nervously responding. "What're you saying Sasuke-kun? I was siding with you!"

Sasuke just shot her an icy glare. "You're annoying Sakura." With those words, he turned to Naruto. "Come on dobe. We don't have time for you to mope around all day. We need to get those bells. I'll trust your decision about teaming up. Let's go."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, a moment of understanding between them. "Let's do it."

Unfortunately, no sooner had the words left his mouth, when the bell rang in the distance.

* * *

The three genin found themselves near the logs that Kakashi had pointed out earlier. Naruto and Sasuke sat on the sides while Sakura was tied to the middle log.

Kakashi just gazed at them lazily. "Well, I'm disappointed. You guys failed to get a bell."

' _Though, Sasuke and Naruto did at least agree to work together. Might've been a fluke though. Let's find out'._

The three genin gazed at the older man waiting for his verdict as he stared them down.

"Well, it looks like none of you need to go back to the academy, at least." Kakashi said smiling a little at them.

Naruto and Sakura immediately let out a cheer while Sasuke smirked.

' _I love being a jonin sensei'_ Kakashi thought before he proceeded to crush their spirits. "Instead, you should all be removed from the shinobi program."

Instantly, the happy looks on the genin's faces turned to shock and anger.

"What?!" Came Sakura's screech. "Why?!"

Kakashi sent her a cold glare. "Because none of you really saw the true purpose of the test till the end. Sasuke and Naruto stumbled across it, but even that wasn't understanding. Think for a moment. Have you ever heard of a genin squad with a jonin and two genin? Have you heard of any three man squads, besides the Sannin?"

Naruto and Sasuke just stared blankly while Sakura let out a feeble mumble. "This was a test about teamwork."

Naruto and Sasuke turned to the tied up girl and then looked back to their sensei who nodded. "Yes. And none of you did much. Naruto, you just charged me head on not considering that you were vastly out matched till after I beat you down. Sasuke, you thought yourself better than everyone and believed that you could take on a jonin alone. Sakura, you didn't even fight me at all. You just insulted your teammates, chased after Sasuke ignoring Naruto who was available for you to help this whole time, and passed out a lot. Pathetic. All of you. You don't deserve to be ninja."

Sasuke immediately charged the Jonin angrily pulling a kunai from his holster, only to find himself pinned to the ground with the same kunai at his neck in an instant.

"See this is exactly what I'm talking about. Ninja have tough decisions to make. For example, Naruto kill Sakura."

Naruto stared at Kakashi bewildered. "What?"

Kakashi scoffed letting Sasuke up. "That's the kind of thing a ninja has to prepare for."

Kakashi turned to the black rock memorial sitting behind him. "This rock has the names of some of the most heroic people in Konoha."

Naruto began cheering. "Really? Really? I'm gonna get on that stone!"

Kakashi sighed. "They're all KIA Naruto. They were killed during missions."

Naruto's face fell.

"My best friend is on that stone. My other teammate is too. So is my sensei. Lots of people are on here. Remember this: ninja who break the rules are trash. But ninja who abandon their teammates are below trash."

Naruto absorbed the words, while making an internally. ' _That's gonna be my new motto. Teammates are the best.'_

"Anyway," Kakashi said turning back to the genin. "I suppose I'll at least give you a second chance since two of you tried to team up." He tossed two bento boxes to the boys. "You two are allowed to eat. Don't give Sakura any or you all fail." With those words, Kakashi shunshined away.

* * *

As the boys started eating, Sakura's stomach growled loudly.

Naruto turned to look up at her before turning to Sasuke. "Teme. Is sensei nearby?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and sighed. He'd expected this. "No. Here Sakura. Eat."

With those words, he offered his food to Sakura.

"I can't eat that", Sakura said. "My hands are tied anyway."

Sasuke stared at her then turned to Naruto who held up his hands. With a sigh, he turned to Sakura. "I'll feed you. We need you at full strength. Naruto, keep watch."

Naruto groaned. "Don't order me around."

Suddenly, there was a huge tornado out of which Kakashi popped out causing Sasuke to flinch frantically dropping the almost empty bento and Naruto to scream and throw a kunai at the tornado.

Kakashi simply grabbed the kunai before angrily yelling. "I thought I told you not to feed Sakura. You all … Pass." With that Kakashi smiled at the genin. "I told you to be about teammates. I'm so proud."

* * *

 **That was plenty I think. From now on we'll build into training and D rank missions. Woo! Sorry the chapter took so long but typing 7,471 words while studying for the MCAT is just a tough task. I hope you guys enjoy. Let me know what you think as always and I'll try to have the next chapter out in no time.**


	4. Team Seven Training

**Author's Note: All right guys, this is where I'm going to have Naruto start to grow a lot. Missions. Training. All that good stuff. There's a few things of note that probably apply here that I should state mostly about what I differ with as far as the canon plot. I always felt like Kakashi was a shitty teacher. He didn't train most of the team at all. Which, considering he was such a strong ninja, made no sense to me. So, I'm gonna have him train them much more seriously. I also really felt like Naruto was too stupid, so this is where that'll start to rectify. I don't think Kakashi would've been happy to see his sensei's kid be a moron.**

 **One last thing: Some of the reviews I could respond to via PM. But, the anonymous reviews I couldn't. So, I think I'll address some of the more important things to everyone so you'll know where I stand.**

 **Here's important things that you guys should know:**

 **Naruto will not be a Hanyou in this fic. I'm just not a fan of that change personally and never thought it made sense.**

 **Naruto won't gain that "enemy/evil sensor" ability till he gains control of the Kyuubi which could happen at any time right now. I never really decided when I'll have him learn that but I don't want Naruto to be reliant on it very much at all other than occasionally drawing out a little chakra. The cloak he probably won't use till much later.**

 **I know we all hate stupid ass Naruto. But, guys, you don't just suddenly turn smart. It's a process of learning and growth. That's something I'm trying to highlight here too. I promise that in the next few chapters though, he'll grow up a lot. This chapter is one where he does.**

 **I don't like Sakura in the canon. She's useless till the end of the series, where she suddenly becomes a new Tsunade. I also thought she treated Naruto like crap and he shouldn't have taken it. But, crushes don't really go away. They're painful when you lose them. And from that pain, we grow up a little. That's something for Naruto to learn too. Eventually, Sakura will grow up and become a better person. But for the first few chapters she's gonna be a bitch. You've been warned.**

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Not yet any way.**_

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal Speech**

' _Hey'_ – **Characters thinking**

" **Hey"** – **Demons/Summons/Big Things**

' _ **Hey' –**_ **Sakura demon voice thing**

* * *

 **The Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

**Flashback**

" _Shut up Baka! Didn't you hear what Sasuke-kun said? He doesn't need help from some no name loser like you. You're just a class clown and a dead last moron. It's probably because you don't have parents to tell you right from wrong anyway! You don't even have to have annoying parents to yell at you. Isn't that right, Sasuke-kun?"_

 _**End Flashback**_

Naruto sighed again, sitting in his dark room. He hadn't slept at all with the memories of the previous day replayed in his head. Most of the day wasn't too bad, only reinforcing what the third hokage had told him previously. He was incredibly weak for a ninja and incredibly stupid as well. The knowledge as a result didn't bother him.

He was a little bothered that he couldn't even touch Kakashi despite all the work he'd put in. He couldn't even get the Jonin to stop reading his stupid book. Though, neither could the Rookie of the Year. _'I guess that's what being a Jonin is about. Someday, I'll have to be stronger. I can't do that if I stay the same. I'll have to get better faster. I wish there was a way to make up for all that lost time in the academy._ ' Still that wasn't the worst thing from the day before.

Sakura's harsh words stuck to Naruto. The words were unnecessarily harsh for the moment and had made Naruto seriously rethink his crush on the pinkette. Besides, it was probably time to focus on becoming a real shinobi instead of girls anyway!

' _At least, teme and I had a moment of sorta understanding'._

With that final thought, Naruto stood and moved to his kitchen as the sun broke across the horizon, sending mild orange light spilling over Konoha. He reached into his cupboard, reaching for a cup of ramen. Unfortunately for him, though, there was no food in the cupboard.

"That's weird. I was sure there were at least one or two cups left in here." Naruto mumbled to himself.

"That would be correct!" Came a voice from behind him, prompting an embarrassingly girl shriek from the orange clad Genin.

Kakashi sat at the small table in Naruto's kitchen, reading his orange book again. "How's it going Naruto? Good morning."

Naruto stared at his new sensei while trying to calm his breathing. "What're you doing here sensei? I thought we weren't meeting till later today."

Kakashi closed his book with a light snap and then placed 4 paper bags on Naruto's table. "Well, like I told you, as long as I'm your sensei, I'm monitoring your diet to make you a better ninja. So, I threw out all of your ramen, the two cups you had. Instead, I took your money and got you groceries. I will be doing this from now onward. You mission pay will go primarily to food and the rest you'll get."

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Is this food for me now?"

Kakashi nodded. "Do you know anything about cooking Naruto?"

"No. I can make instant ramen but that's kind of it."

Kakashi stood and moved to place a pan on the stove that Naruto had. "I assumed so. So, I figured I could at least show you one or two simple things and start you toward cooking on your own. You can keep this pan and the spatula." With those words, Kakashi reached into a paper bag and removed a dozen eggs.

"You'll want to keep these cold Naruto. They spoil fairly quickly. This should last you for a week provided you use it only for breakfast or brunch." With those words, Kakashi set about showing Naruto how to use butter and two of the eggs to make scrambled eggs. After, the food was done, Kakashi had Naruto sit at a table with him with the eggs and two pieces of toast and some bacon.

As they sat and began to eat, Kakashi spoke. "For lunches, I'll usually provide lunch during training so you won't have to worry about that. Dinner, well, we'll work on making dinner later. I'll see if I can find you a cook book for you to help with that too."

Naruto tentatively scooped a spoonful of scrambled eggs into his mouth and nodded. "This isn't that bad, sensei." With that he began eating more quickly.

Kakashi chuckled. "Good. I thought you'd enjoy it. Now you know how to make some for yourself too. Now, let's talk some training. What do you think you need to work on?"

Naruto looked up at the Jonin. "I think I need to work on my overall skill, honestly. I think compared to Sasuke and Sakura, I'm pretty dumb. I'm lacking in a lot of the Academy concepts and I'm pretty weak. I also pretty much only know three jutsu: Shadow Clone, Transformation, and Kawarimi."

Kakashi nodded pondering the words of his new student. "All very true. Your taijutsu needs polish. Your genjutsu from what Iruka told me is nonexistent. You have potential in ninjutsu but your chakra control needs work as well. From what I saw during the test, you have potential for tactics as well. We'll work on that. Tell me, what are you most interested in learning. Is there something you want to specialize in?"

Naruto nodded. "I wanna be a fairly good ninja overall, obviously, but I wanna be really good at fuinjutsu and ninjutsu."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose with surprise, just for an instant before he suppressed it. "Fuinjutsu? You know Naruto, that's one of the most complicated skills right?"

Naruto nodded. "Hokage-oji-san told me. But, all the previous Hokage were great at it and I heard you're decent too. It sounds like a good thing to understand."

Kakashi nodded. "I agree. First, though, you need to catch up to the rest of the team. How do you think that might be best done?"

Naruto pondered the question for a little while, as Kakashi sat patiently. He nibbled on his toast, which was also surprisingly good before looking at Kakashi. "I guess the best way would be for me to take extra time to relearn all the things I studied at the Academy."

Kakashi nodded again at the response. "That's right. But, how will you relearn 4 or more years' worth of information in a short time."

Naruto frowned. "I have no idea, sensei. What do you recommend?"

Again, Naruto caught Kakashi by surprise. He hadn't been expecting a question. He was expecting Naruto to rant about how much he'd work to catch up. Pleasantly surprised, Kakashi decided perhaps Naruto should know the truth behind the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Tell me Naruto, do you know what the Shadow Clone Jutsu was originally designed for?"

"No. I have no idea. It's not to make lots of you and fight?"

Kakashi chuckled. "I don't think most people can make as many clones as you Naruto. Even I can barely make 5. You just have a lot of chakra. The point of the Shadow Clone Jutsu is to spy. And the way that works is that everything your clone learns, when it dispels, it shares that knowledge with you and all the other clones. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded. "So, what you're saying is that if I and another clone studied something or practiced something, we could improve in half the time?"

Kakashi smiled, pleased that Naruto was learning quickly. "Exactly Naruto. Now imagine if you and ten clones did the same practice. Or if you and a hundred clones did the same practice. There are a few drawbacks. Things that build physical traits won't be passed by shadow clones. Muscle building, stamina building, and other physical traits won't improve since clones are chakra constructs. But you could read multiple books at once. You could improve chakra control or learn a jutsu faster. That's what we'll be using the clones for. You can also program them into your tactics. Got it?"

Naruto nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I understand sensei."

"One more thing. Whenever you dispel your clones, don't do it all at once. The sensory feedback could severely damage you. Do it at most, in groups of 5."

Seeing Naruto confirm his orders, Kakashi rose and placed his plate in the sink and placed the remaining groceries in the fridge for Naruto. "Well, Naruto. I'll see you in around 2 hours at Training Ground 7. We'll train till lunch and then perhaps after, do a few missions. See you soon."

With those words, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto to contemplate the things he'd learned and to finish the rest of the breakfast that Kakashi made.

* * *

Naruto made it to Training Ground 7 promptly two hours later, surprised to find the rest of his team already there. "Kakashi sensei! You aren't late today."

Kakashi smiled in Naruto's direction. "Well, Naruto, I figured that since today is our first day of training, I'd be responsible." With those words, he turned to the others and had them sit down in the grass.

"Also since today's our first day officially training, I suppose I'll let you guys decide our schedule for the first half. Should we start with chakra control, physical training, or teamwork drills?"

Sakura muttered a quick word about whatever Sasuke-kun thought best as Sasuke and Naruto immediately turned to physical training.

Kakashi eye smiled at the words before standing. "Great! Then start with fifty push-ups!"

The three Genin let out a mild groan at the words before setting out to finish the given task. Sasuke and Naruto easily finished the set but had to wait for Sakura who only barely made it through the set before her arms gave out. As soon as Sakura finished, however, Kakashi was moving to the next task: fifty crunches. After crunches, came fifty pull ups using tree limbs. After those, fifty 10 meter sprints. As the Genin, now sweating finished those and sat down (or collapsed in the case of Sakura), Kakashi stood calmly not even remotely sweaty after performing the exercises alongside the Genin.

"Let's keep going! It's not even 10:00 yet!" He barked to a loud groan from Sakura and mutters from the two boys. "Let's spar next. I think that'll be a great practice. You'll learn something from each other too."

The three Genin looked up at their sensei. Sakura asked the question all of the Genin were thinking. "Who are we sparring sensei?"

Kakashi smiled back at the three Genin. "Each other of course. Sakura, you're a little too exhausted so what you'll do is analyze the spar after it finishes. Every day, a different one of you will analyze and I'll provide input that you may have missed. I'll also proctor the spars. No ninjutsu is allowed. Only taijutsu. Sasuke and Naruto, you'll spar first."

Naruto grinned before cheerily moving to a spot across from Sasuke. "I'm gonna kick your ass teme."

Sasuke just scoffed. "You wish dobe. There's a reason why I'm the rookie of the year and you're the dead last."

Ignoring the banter, which reminded him oddly of his own Genin days, Kakashi stepped forward and signaled for the boys to start.

As soon as Naruto saw the signal, he charged at Sasuke throwing a clumsy right handed punch that the Uchiha simply bat out of his way with his own right hand before stepping in and smashing his left fist into Naruto's face sending him stumbling back. Before the blond could respond, however, Sasuke was in his space landing 3 harsh punches into his gut and then kicking the legs out from under Naruto knocking Naruto to the ground. Before he could do much else, Naruto found himself pinned by Sasuke's knee, the Uchiha's right fist centimeters from his face.

"Break. Sasuke wins." Came Kakashi's voice as Naruto stood up slowly, still aching from the beat down that Sasuke gave him.

"What's wrong dobe? Thought you were gonna kick my ass." Sasuke said with a smirk.

Naruto grit his teeth. "Just wait till next time, teme."

Kakashi sighed at the rivalry before gesturing for both boys to sit. Then he turned to Sakura. "What did you notice Sakura? Remember the goal here is to help Naruto improve."

Sakura turned to Naruto. "I think it was silly to charge in like that against a superior ninja Naruto. I think you should've tried to get him tired before you fought him knowing that he was better."

Kakashi nodded. "That's probably the best strategy Naruto. It wasn't too fair a match since the level of taijutsu and the time spent training is vastly different. But, hopefully, it was a good experience for you."

Then he turned to Sasuke. "Well, Sasuke. It's time for your prize."

Seeing Sasuke's eyes light up, excited at the mention of a fight, Kakashi had to suppress a sadistic giggle. "You get to spar me! Naruto and Sakura observe closely now!"

In a few seconds, Sasuke lay on the ground groaning in pain as Kakashi stood with one leg on top of him. "That's how you do it! You just hit him hard as soon as he misses and follow the initial hit with combinations. Now, back to more working out. Give me fifty more push-ups all of you."

That earned the loud groan from all three Genin Kakashi had been looking for.

* * *

By noon, when Kakashi announced the lunch break, the three Genin looked ready to drop. Naruto, even with his intense stamina, looked beat up, a result of multiple spars with Sasuke. Sakura looked like she wasn't going to be able to move for a week and Sasuke looked similar to Naruto except with more dirt on his face.

"Great! That was a productive morning." Kakashi said with a smile. "Let's get some lunch and then we'll talk about what's next there. It'll be my treat so what do you guys want to eat?"

Immediately Naruto was on his feet. "Ramen! I haven't had any in two days! We have to have ramen."

Sakura groaned. "No way. Ramen is gross and fatty. I just want a salad." _**'Cha! I'm already going to get all gross and bulky from this stupid training. Sasuke-kun's really gonna lose all interest in me then!'**_

Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "You, Sasuke?"

"Hn. (Ramen sounds good to me)"

Kakashi nodded sagely before turning back to the group. "Sounds like Sasuke wants Ramen too. Lead the way Naruto!"

Naruto just stared for a second, shocked that Kakashi could interpret the grunts from Sasuke before shrugging and walking quickly towards Ichiraku Ramen Stand.

* * *

As the three Genin sat slurping on their ramen, or nibbling in Sakura's case, Kakashi explained the mission ranking system to them.

"There's five real categories that you need to worry about now that you're ninja. D rank missions are the most basic. They're assigned to fresh Genin and occasionally to final year academy students who show promise. These missions are simple, not too dangerous at all, and are intended to build teamwork in teams and provide time for you to get to know each other without the stress of the field. This provides the benefit of earning income for the village and helping people in the village as well."

Looking around to make sure all three ninja understood, Kakashi continued. "C rank missions are the next rank. They have some threat to them, usually of contact with bandits or another group of Genin who may be trying to reach the opposite conclusion to what we were hired for. These missions are the start to combat. Genin are mostly assigned C rank and D rank missions. Rarely, Genin are eligible for B rank. B rank missions are missions that involve direct conflict with other ninja, most of whom will be Chunin in rank. These missions are given to Chunin and Jonin. Jonin also have a final mission type, A rank. These are the hardest missions given to most ninja and almost always involve conflict between squads of Jonin or important documents between the villages. The final mission type are S rank missions. These are given only to the elite Jonin and Anbu. Occasionally, S ranks appear that only the Hokage is strong enough to take up. That should give you an idea about how tough they are."

Again, Kakashi paused to give his students time to digest their information. "Sakura, eat that ramen a bit faster. We have missions to do and we aren't leaving till you finish your bowl."

Sakura scowled at her sensei before eating a little more quickly from her bowl of vegetable ramen.

Kakashi suppressed a sigh at the girl's attitude. _'We're going to have to work on that. Maybe I'll get Sasuke to help me.'_

"Anyway, since we're a brand new team, we'll be assigned D rank missions. In general, a Genin team is expected to finish a certain number of D rank missions before they can begin to take C rank missions. At first, you'll have to do a certain number of D ranks between each C rank but that'll eventually dwindle and you'll be asked to frequently take on C ranks and maybe even the occasional B rank." Kakashi said finishing the last of his ramen without ever removing his mask.

The three Genin quickly finished the remainder of their lunch and then began to walk with Kakashi towards the Hokage's office building to receive their mission for the day.

As they walked, Naruto began to bombard Kakashi with questions. "So, sensei, how many missions are we allowed to take in one day?"

Kakashi kept walking as he responded. "I suppose Naruto that we can do as many as we want. I however want to keep missions down to two hours for now. In that time, theoretically we could finish a lot of missions if you used your shadow clones though. Just don't overdo it because after missions, we'll be training again."

Naruto nodded taking the idea into consideration. ' _Just the training earlier was tiring enough without me using any clones or much chakra at all_. _I'll probably conserve most of my chakra.'_

"So, how many missions would we have to do before our first C rank mission?"

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair. "Twenty is the usual number for ninja. Assuming we do a mission a day, it'll take about a month. We probably will not do a mission a day, we'll probably take a few days off from them to train harder or engage in drills with other teams."

Naruto nodded as the team walked into the office where the missions were given away.

As he walked in he greeted the old Hokage enthusiastically. "Hey old man! What's up?"

As he did, Iruka angrily yelled from beside the Hokage. "Naruto! He's the Hokage! Show some respect."

Sakura also smacked him on the head roughly, knocking him to the ground. "Geez Naruto! You can't just call the Hokage an old man."

Naruto groaned as Kakashi sighed and Sasuke continued to brood quietly. He hadn't gotten any of his quota for the day.

With that, the team got their first mission.

* * *

"Weeding a garden!? Really?" Naruto said as he pulled weeds from the older lady's yard.

"Hm... That's part of being a Genin Naruto. We all had to do it." Kakashi said from the tree branch he was reclining on reading his orange book.

Naruto rolled his eyes. They continued to work in the yard, which turned out to take most of the two hours that Kakashi planned for since Naruto didn't want to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu in case he would need the extra chakra for the training after. After the mission was complete and the team finished reporting to the Hokage and receiving their meager pay for the job, five thousand yen.

* * *

With that, the team made its way back to Training Ground 7.

As the team relaxed with cold bottles of water as Kakashi explained the next phase of their training.

"So, now I think we should all work on individual things. So, you guys tell me what you want to work on." Kakashi said to the three Genin.

"What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura said looking up at Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed again. ' _I really didn't consider how oblivious the fangirl would be. Hopefully she'll understand with some explanation.'_

"What I mean, Sakura, is that you guys have to decide what you want to focus on right now. You guys will tell me what that is and I'll try to teach you or to find you a teacher who might be better suited than I can be." Kakashi said pulling out what looked like a small stack of post it notes as he spoke. "So, what do each of you want to work on? Let's start with Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi for a second then spoke. "Hn. (I wanna learn some new jutsu)."

"Hmm. That's not quite what I meant Sasuke. You'll all slowly start learning jutsu anyway. I meant learning a specialized style of things. There's quite a few things along those lines that you can probably work on to distinguish you from other ninja till you unlock your sharingan, at least."

Sasuke looked up considering for a moment before speaking again. "Hn. (The sharingan is really good for genjutsu right?)"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. The Uchiha were really good at it."

"Hn. (I guess I'll do that)"

Kakashi eye-smiled at Sasuke. "Great! I'm pretty skilled at that one and once you advance I know someone who can teach you a lot more than I can too."

With that he turned to Naruto. "So, Naruto? What about you? I know we talked about this earlier but I want you to choose something else besides the thing you told me about earlier."

Naruto nodded. "At some point, I'm going to get you to teach me how you translate the teme's grunts. I think the other thing I want to work on right now is taijutsu. Like you said, mine is pretty bad and I don't really have a style and I don't like the academy style we're taught."

Kakashi nodded at that. "I'm decent at taijutsu but I know someone better for teaching you. Our styles wouldn't meld. Sakura?"

Sakura thought for a moment before smiling at Kakashi. "My academy grades said genjutsu would be best for me too. So, why not that?" _**'Cha! I get to get closer to Sasuke-kun now! I'll show him how good I am at this and then he'll fall in love with me! Kyaaa!'**_

Kakashi sighed. ' _Damn. I didn't think she'd wanna just copy Sasuke. Time to come up with a good excuse.'_

"Well Sakura that would narrow the ability scale of the team. If we have two talented genjutsu users and we face a better genjutsu user, we'd be outdone too quickly. So, let's build some more balance. Try something else."

Sakura's face fell as she pondered again. "I guess I'll chose medical jutsu so that we have someone to heal the team."

Kakashi frowned. "I suppose that's a good choice. I'll try to find someone who can teach you that better than I can but I know a few things about that too."

Kakashi then passed each of the Genin a piece of the paper that he'd removed before.

"What's this sensei?" Sakura asked. _**'Is sensei crazy? First he keeps me from getting close to Sasuke-kun and now he's handing us post it notes.'**_

"That, Sakura, is an elemental affinity paper. It's to help determine what element of jutsu would be best suited to you." He held up a piece of paper of his own and began channeling chakra to it. "Watch what happens as I channel chakra to it." The paper crumpled immediately.

"This indicates a lightning affinity. Let's see what you guys get. Sakura, you start."

Sakura began channeling chakra into her paper and it immediately turned to dust. "What does that mean sensei?"

"You have an earth affinity, Sakura. Well done. That's a great defensive style which will fit your medical ninjutsu well. You made a good choice with the speciality you wanted."

' _ **Cha! I'm a badass! Now to win Sasuke-kun's heart!'**_ "Great sensei! I'm glad to hear that." Sakura said giggling as she thought about all the things she and Sasuke would do after she impressed him.

Kakashi moved forward to Naruto. "You next."

Naruto didn't immediately start. "Can we have more than one affinity? Is that a thing?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. In fact, even after a dominant affinity shows, you can build a second and third one. Some shinobi build even more. For example, Hokage-sama has the ability to use all 5 naturally. In fact, most jonin are required to have at least two affinities."

Naruto nodded and began channeling chakra into the paper. As he moved his hands away, the paper showed to have shredded into many little scraps.

"That affinity is wind." Kakashi spoke up. "It's the most offensive of the five basic elements and is great for close range combat and further ranges as well. It's also great for combination jutsu with other shinobi."

Naruto grinned and Kakashi turned to Sasuke who was already channeling chakra into his paper. Unlike the other two ninja, Sasuke's paper first crumpled then burned into ashes.

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Well, it seems one of us has two affinities."

Sasuke smirked at his teammates, especially Naruto who looked rather jealous.

Kakashi ignored the clear rivalry. "You have fire and lightning. Fire is common for Uchiha and so is lightning so that'll work great. I'm well versed in both."

He took a sip from his drink before continuing his lecture. "Now, each of the elements has a strength and weakness. Starting with earth. Earth is strong against water style but is weak to lightning. Lightning is strong against earth but weak against wind." At this Naruto shot Sasuke a triumphant smile and the other boy scowled. "Wind is weak against fire and strong against lightning." Here Sasuke smirked at a dejected Naruto. "Fire is weak against water and strong against wind. Water is weak against earth and strong against fire. It's straight forward."

The three Genin nodded their understanding.

"Now then, let's get training. I'll explain what each of you is to do and then monitor your progress. Let's start."

Kakashi had the three move about 100 feet of each other and then stood in the middle. Then he began to call out orders.

"Sakura. Medical ninjutsu requires great stamina to perform. So, start by doing 20 laps around the training ground."

Sakura groaned before taking off at a moderate pace. As she did, Kakashi moved to Naruto. He reached into his pouch and removed paper, a brush, and some ink.

"Here Naruto. Fuinjutsu requires perfect handwriting. So, I want you to work on your handwriting. Here's a template of things I want you to start copying." Naruto groaned at his own work before sitting down with it.

"It's like the academy all over again."

Kakashi chuckled before turning to Sasuke. "You're going to be placed in genjutsu over and over till we stop training. Your job is to get out of it. Ready or not! Here I come".

Sasuke saw Kakashi fly through some hand seals and then promptly passed out.

* * *

By the time that Kakashi called a break to the training, the three Genin all looked like they'd been attacked. Naruto was holding his aching wrist which had cramped from the immense writing that he was unadjusted to. Every time he'd stopped writing, Kakashi had thrown a dull kunai that smacked him on his arms, creating bruises all over them.

Sakura looked like she'd been forced to live in the wilderness for a month. Every time she slowed down, Kakashi had a shadow clone chase her smacking the backs of her legs with a thin, whip like reed.

The worst, however, was Sasuke who had clearly struggled to undo whatever genjutsu had been placed on him. He sat on the ground, curled into a fetal position, whimpering. It was such an unexpected sight that Naruto and Sakura both avoided asking about the content of the genjutsu.

Kakashi smiled at his students. "Wasn't that fun guys?" He said excitedly earning a loud groan from all three students. "We'll do this pretty much every day from now on. I'll introduce other things slowly but for the first two weeks, we'll follow this schedule. Now head home, get some food and rest. Don't forget to eat properly because if you're missing calories, you won't be able to handle the training."

* * *

 **Alright. I decided to use this chapter as a little bit of filler to give you guys some training and some growth. Next chapter, will skip ahead by about a month and we'll begin the mission to the waves arc, which I'll modify slightly. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter though it's a bit on the shorter end. I'd love to hear any ideas or suggestions you may have. I'm pretty open to critique so have at it.**

 **Thanks for reading guys. I'll have the next chapter coming soon.**


	5. Mission to the Wave begins!

**A.N.: Hello! Again guys. With this chapter, we'll begin the wave arc. I hope you enjoy. I'm gonna take a moment here to respond again, to some reviews that I feel might be questions a lot of readers have.**

 **First, sorry guys, but I don't really have any update schedules. I'm going to try to get a chapter out per week but with the start of my third year as a premed student, it'll be harder to do that so I won't make any promises. For now, though, one per week should be decent.**

 **Next, there's a reason why Kakashi doesn't use Sasuke to "fix" Sakura and that's really simple. I don't think he's going to make Sasuke say anything to Sakura. He'd probably straight up tell Sakura that Sasuke would prefer a stronger ninja. I also don't think Sasuke would tell Sakura to stop being mean to Naruto nor do I think Kakashi would tell Sasuke to say that. Growing up is about fighting your own battles and I think that's something Naruto has to learn himself.**

 **Finally, I don't think Sasuke would tell Sakura that Hinata would make the best wife. Hinata lacks confidence which is something that Sasuke is really about. I also don't think Sasuke would've noticed Hinata as anything other than a Hyuga, so he wouldn't know about her crush on Naruto yet. Most importantly, Ino was the kunoichi who canonically had the best scores in the academy so if anything, she has the most potential (if you ignore that she's a fangirl too). Don't worry though, she's gonna start changing into a better person too. It's not going to be all at once but it'll happen.**

 **There's a poll on my profile with a bunch of pairing options. Go vote on it so that I have an idea about what you guys want. It'll stay open for a pretty long time because I'm not gonna start introducing romance till at least the chunin exam.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I am currently beginning my maniacal plan to take the franchise from Kishimoto, but for now I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal speech**

' _Hey' –_ **Normal thinking**

" **Hey" – Kyuubi or similar creature speaking**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Kyuubi or similar creature thinking**

" _ **Sakura" – Sakura's demon thing**_

* * *

 **The Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

The next few weeks passed in the same way for the young Genin of team 7, rigorous training followed by missions which were followed by more intense training. The three found themselves exhausted each day but their improvement was immense under Kakashi's tutelage.

Sasuke had opened up a little more, grunting less (but still grunting often) and speaking to his teammates. He continued to improve at sparring, often winning the matches that were held and as a result having to spar Kakashi. His respect for his teammates also grew, after Sakura suddenly kneed him the face during a sparring match sending him toppling and after Naruto had forced him to submission once. He did vow never to let them do anything that embarrassing again though. Besides this, he'd finally learned to resist the genjutsu placed on him by Kakashi and started learning slight sense altering genjutsu from the scarecrow like ninja. Kakashi also had him learn more fire style jutsu to develop his affinity to the fire style.

Sakura had also developed into a more able ninja. Kakashi's stern physical demands and the better diet meant that she developed more muscle which let her endure the training for longer periods. Of course, as she improved, so did Kakashi's demands. Besides her stamina and physicality, Sakura also learned basic medical procedure for healing small cuts and scratches from Kakashi. She also learned two new earth style jutsu to make her a well-rounded individual. One of them, was Earth Style: Earth Wall, which allowed her to create a quick 8 foot wall of rock that was reinforced. The other was Earth Style: Flying Thrown Rocks, which fires a series of rocks from the ground at whomever the user chose. Best of all, Kakashi had managed to slowly beat the fangirl out of Sakura and impress on her the importance of training by reminding her occasionally that Sasuke would prefer a strong kunoichi. The girl was still a huge fangirl and still a screeching banshee at times, but her demeanor changed and she did treat Naruto slightly better as well.

Naruto had perhaps the most definite improvements. After Kakashi told Naruto about the shadow clone technique, Naruto quickly began using them to catch up to the others. He found that he could always spare enough chakra for two clones before training and still make it through Kakashi's training without collapsing. This let him quickly build up his taijutsu to a passable level, allowing him to no longer lose to Sakura consistently in sparring and to even occasionally beat Sasuke. Naruto's mind also sharpened immensely as he had the two clones read as much as possible and on the rare off days Kakashi gave, to make fifty or so clones read as well. Unlike, the other two ninja, however, Naruto was stuck attempting to cut leaves with wind chakra because Kakashi refused to teach Naruto any jutsu till he had passable control with the chakra to make sure the jutsu didn't backfire onto him or one of his teammates. Luckily, Naruto understood the importance of the training and worked to cut the leaves with diligence, already managing to place a rough cut into half of a leaf. His ability in fuinjutsu had sped along as well. With the help of the book that the Hokage gave him and the teaching of Kakashi, Naruto could now write neatly and thus was beginning to make his own seals, although he could only really manage basic explosive tags and silencing seals for the time.

The team had also been trained in tree walking as Kakashi felt that the sooner he could develop chakra control in his students, the more he could teach them in the long run. He also instructed them in basic teamwork drills and maneuvers to have them begin to gain experience working together. Often, he'd have the three of them use these maneuvers to fight himself and occasionally have each ninja develop a plan of action to improve their tactics. Naruto showed the most potential in this field leading Kakashi to understand why his pranks worked so well during his academy days.

The team had also begun to complete D rank missions at an alarming rate. The first two weeks, the team had taken on only one mission per day but as time passed Naruto began to employ small teams of clones to start helping, and the team was finishing three or four missions.

* * *

"This is Ramen. I'm in position."

"Duck Butt in position. I vote that we never let Ramen choose the codenames again."

"This is Flower in position. I agree. Ramen, I can't believe you gave him that codename."

"You'll have to get used to it. The mission leader often gives out the codenames. This is scarecrow. Do you confirm that's the target?"

"Yeah. I see the red ribbon on the ear."

"Ramen confirms too."

"Same here for flower."

"Okay team. Move in."

Naruto and Sasuke jumped out from the bushes to confront their target who quickly changed directions and ran only to bump into Sakura. It tried to run again only to be tackled by both the boys who quickly tied the cat up with ninja wire.

"This is Ramen. We've got the target."

"Confirm again that it is in fact that target."

"Scarecrow, this is Flower. It is the target."

"Great. Let's meet back at the Hokage's office to report with the target."

As the team prepared to move back, Naruto noticed that the cat had escaped the wire and slowly began to try to escape. Before it could though, Naruto picked it up and with a quick yell of "Teme, think fast" threw the cat into Sasuke's face.

"MRAAAWWW!"

* * *

The three Genin stood with Kakashi in the Hokage's office as a fat lady squeezed the cat. "Oh my poor Tora-chan! I missed you so much!"

' _No wonder the cat runs away so much."_ Naruto thought as he watched the feline get fanatically trying to escape the clutches of the Daimyo's wife.

' _Yes. Feel the pain you stupid cat. How dare you mar my perfect face?'_ Sasuke thought as he chuckled maniacally, while Sakura worked to heal the 3 red scratches on his cheek.

"Good job, Team Seven. One hour and 15 minutes. That's pretty great time for catching Tora. I think that puts you as second on the record board for capture time." Sarutobi said as he shuffled through some papers. "Did you want another mission Kakashi or would you like to wait and return to training?"

Kakashi pondered for a moment before speaking up. "I think for today, we will stop with missions. There are some important things I need to discuss with my team."

Sarutobi nodded. "Very well. Have a good day. Thank you all for your hard work."

With the dismissal, Team Seven left the office and quickly made their way to Training Ground seven.

"What's going on Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. "What did you need to talk to us about?"

Kakashi motioned for the team to sit down. "Have you realized how many missions we've completed?"

Naruto spoke up. "Yeah. I kept track. We just finished our 25th D rank. Is that why Hokage-oji-san asked if we wanted a new mission?"

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. So, tomorrow, I think we'll take a C rank mission. In the meantime, since it'll be a big one tomorrow, we'll train a bit and then I'll go over what kinds of things you should pack."

The three Genin nodded.

"Hn. (What kind of training are we doing today?)"

"Well, Sasuke. I think we'll keep on with the chakra control training. You and Naruto can only make it about half way before you stop being able to control your chakra. Sakura, you've gotten much further but you don't have the stamina so keep walking up and down the tree. You can take a break between every lap."

The three Genin nodded and then made their way to begin walking.

"As you do that, I'll go over some things you should be aware of." Kakashi said settling down to read while he observed his students. "This mission you'll probably be required to kill. If you are, do it. It's better for you to kill them, then for them to kill you or a teammate. In combat, keep each other's back especially because bandits are known to try to outnumber shinobi in order to win."

"Got it." Came the voices of the three Genin.

"The supplies you'll need to bring are standard B rank supplies. Because we don't know how long we'll be gone, it's best to stock up on extra things rather than what would simply be required for a C rank. Remember that over preparation is better than under preparation. Standard B rank supplies are three hundred kunai, three hundred shuriken, one hundred explosive tags, about 100 feet of ninja wire, a standard medical first aid kit consisting of bandages, gauze, tongue depressors to use for splints, and floss, 4 empty sealing scrolls, and of course extra sets of clothing and bedrolls. All of your equipment should be stored in a marked fifth sealing scroll. Set aside about 50 kunai, shuriken, and 10 explosive tags in your pouch. You'll have a bag to put anything extra you want in."

Again the Genin nodded their understanding as they trained. Naruto and Sasuke were slowly nearing the three fourths mark on the tree and Sakura was barely completing her first lap and preparing to take a short break.

Kakashi continued to review basic tactics and team formations as the team worked.

* * *

Two hours passed with the training. Naruto and Sasuke were nearing the top of the tree, competing constantly with each other. The competition provided a healthy route for the Genin to improve, in Kakashi's opinion, as both boys worked hard to beat the other. Sakura had been able to improve quickly as well, finishing six laps whereas before she could hardly manage 4.

Proud of his achievements in improving his team, Kakashi took a moment to congratulate himself for a brief moment and looked up. As he did, however, he saw something fairly alarming. A messenger hawk from the Hokage circled overhead before swooping down onto his now outstretched arm. It dropped a scroll bearing the official seal of the Hokage into his other palm and flew off back to its station.

Kakashi opened the scroll, fluidly tearing the wax seal on the outside and analyzed the coded message quickly. _Scan once now. Read twice later_. The motto his own sensei had taught him for reading messages hung in his mind.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, stop. Come over here. We've got an important mission."

As he did, the three Genin quickly made their way to their sensei's location.

"What's up sensei? I thought we weren't taking any more missions today?" Sakura asked.

"That's usually right Sakura. But sometimes, the Hokage may send out a mission if it's important enough. Now, I've got the general information here. Let's go get dinner and I'll brief you guys over the meal."

The Genin nodded. "So. Ramen right?" Naruto said.

"No way, Baka! At least let our last meal before an important mission be something a little healthier."

"Come on, Sakura. It's not like we need something healthy really with all our training. You aren't gonna get fat just because you ate a bowl of ramen."

That was a big change for the team too. Naruto no longer called Sakura with the honorific "-chan" which shocked her when he suddenly stopped about a week after the formation of the team. _'I wonder if I did something.'_ She thought. _**"No way! He's probably just trying to make us feel guilty so he can steal us from Sasuke-kun!"**_

"Hn. (I agree with Sakura today actually. We had ramen for lunch. Sensei, why don't you pick?)"

"I suppose so Sasuke." Kakashi said earning the same weird look Naruto always gave him when he interpreted Sasuke's grunts.

"Sasuke says he thinks we should eat something different since we had Ramen for lunch."

"How do you understand what he's saying?!" Naruto yelled.

"Someday I'll teach you. For now, let's go eat some sushi."

* * *

As the team sat in a decent sushi place that Kakashi brought them to and began to eat, Kakashi began to review the details of the mission.

"Two days ago, Team Eight and Team Ten accepted a joint C rank mission. It appears that certain Genin on both teams became impatient with the D rank missions and as a result were given a collaboration mission to ensure that things could go better. It was an escort mission for a bridge builder to the Land of waves, a small island. On the way there, however, the Team 18, as we'll call them, encountered a team of Chunin who were attempting to assassinate the bridge builder. The bridge builder appears to have lied about the nature of the mission due to finances. Kurenai, the leader of Team Eight, interrogated the three Chunin and has determined that they were hired by Gatou, the shipping tycoon who is currently the dictator of the land of waves to prevent the building of a land connection to the poor country. A land connection would ruin his hold on the island and provide access to trade for the people."

The three Genin all had pieces of paper on which they were scribbling notes, hastily writing important details to study. Kakashi smiled proudly, pleased that they had absorbed that lesson from him.

"Because we know that the enemy will have understood that the Chunin failed, the next assassin sent after the bridge builder, Tazuna-san, will be a Jonin or a group of Jonin which would prove difficult even for two Jonin to handle while with Genin that may need defending. What rank do you think this mission will be?"

"Hn. (An A rank mission. A team of Jonin plus other Jonin on Jonin combat)."

"Good job Sasuke!" Kakashi said with another smile. "I'm glad you remembered my lecture!"

"Sensei. What the hell did teme say?"

"Oh. That's right. He said A rank because there's 3 Jonin, enough for a small team, and Jonin on Jonin combat."

"That makes sense. Sasuke-kun is so smart." Sakura said batting her eyes in the brooding Uchiha's direction.

"Anyway," Kakashi continued. "This is why we're being assigned. We will provide back up to the teams currently on the mission and will stay with Tazuna till the bridge is complete. Because this is an A rank mission, we'll have to redo our plan. You need to get enough supplies for two A rank missions. Here's what that consists of." Kakashi handed the three Genin small pieces of paper with the needed supplies written on it.

"Besides this, we'll require some extra prep. Naruto, can you send a few clones to read up on the Land of Waves? It'll be beneficial to have a ninja on the team who's an expert. Also bring your sealing supplies. It's always good to have those"

"Sure sensei."

"Sakura, get bonus medical supplies since you're probably best equipped for it. You'll have to look after Team Eight and Ten too."

The pinkette nodded while scribbling the orders down onto the sheet that had all the other important information.

"Sasuke, I want you to procure some extra tools such as smoke bombs and flash bombs. Also procure a pack of soldier pills to make sure that we have a tool for continuing when tired."

Sasuke grunted his approval.

"Great. It's currently 6:32 pm. We'll meet promptly at 5 am and get a second briefing directly from the Hokage. Understood?"

"Hai sensei!" The three Genin said and then immediately took off to complete their required tasks.

* * *

The three Genin sat on a bench in front of the Hokage's office.

"Where the hell is sensei?" Naruto yelled. "It's eight in the morning! He's three hours late for an A rank mission!"

Sakura nodded. "You'd think he'd be on time for our first big mission at least."

Sasuke grunted. "Hn."

"Teme, you know that none of us can understand your stupid grunts."

"Naruto-Baka! Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!"

As they argued, a puff of smoke appeared in front of them as Kakashi appeared. "Yo."

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at Kakashi.

"Sorry! Sorry! I was leaving my house when a black cat crossed my path and so I had to take the long way around when an old lady was trying to cross the street so I helped her cross the street before she turned out to be a spy from another village so I had an epic fight to the death and then had to finish taking the long way here."

"Liar!" the two yelled again.

"Anyway. Let's go meet the Hokage." Kakashi said with an eye smile and began walking into the office.

* * *

After a short briefing with the Hokage, who simply informed the team that Team 18 had backtracked to a small town four hours away with Tazuna, the team took off quickly moving to reinforce the others. Kakashi had the team run without using chakra to enhance their movements because the drain would prevent the team from fighting effectively if any enemies showed up suddenly.

The team didn't face much trouble at all and easily made their way to the town where Team 18 was stationed.

"Sensei. How do we know where the others are stationed? Oji-san didn't tell us." Naruto muttered to Kakashi.

"Hm… I suppose you didn't notice, but Kurenai and Asuma left subtle signs around about where they are. They're in that hotel there. Room 22, which is located on the second floor, is where Tazuna is with the Genin. Kurenai and Asuma are currently walking around town picking up extra information. Let's head to the room."

With that the Genin quietly made their way into the hotel, a small quiet building that was made largely out of wood. It was pleasant if nothing else with a small lobby with a fireplace, hot springs available to customers, and decent enough rooms.

Kakashi approached the desk and purchased two rooms. One for himself and the two boys and another for Sakura and potentially the other girls. After that he took the team to Room 22 and knocked on the door, rhythmically tapping 4 times, then 3, then 5, then 1.

There was some shuffling inside, a happy voice that Sakura recognized as Ino's that exclaimed, and the door flew open.

Inside the six Genin and Tazuna sat waiting.

Kiba yelled happily. "Woohoo! It's a reunion!"

At the same time, Ino tackled Sasuke yelling. "Sasuke-kun! Did you miss me?"

Naruto turned quickly to talk to Kakashi only to find a log with a note in its place.

" _Naruto, I've gone to find Asuma and Kurenai and gather information with them. I'm placing you in charge of the Genin till we get back. Pick out your lieutenants and get some more defensive positioning set up. Privately with Sasuke and Sakura, start coming up with emergency scenarios. I'm leaving it to you."_

Naruto sweat dropped at the note then looked back up at the mess in front of him. ' _Why did sensei leave me in charge? Lazy bastard."_

Naruto looked back up at the loud Genin in front of him. Kiba was loudly bragging to Sasuke about his improvements while the other boy stood uncomfortably as Sakura tried to pry a yelling Ino off him. Choji and Shikamaru sat quietly munching on chips and Shino was trying to quiet Kiba. Hinata shyly hid behind Shino. An old man, sat behind the group, drinking from a bottle of wine. _'Damn. I wish Iruka-sensei taught me his Big Head Jutsu. I'll have to ask him about it next time.'_

"OY! SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled at the Genin in front of him. "What are you stupid assholes doing? We're on a fucking mission not a class reunion! You're just throwing up a huge fucking sign to the enemy about where we are and none of you have your guard up so that stupid old bridge builder is gonna get assassinated right under our noses."

The Genin quiet down for a moment before Kiba and Ino started again.

"Shut up dead last. Who put you in charge?"

"Yeah! Seriously, as if you get to give us orders Naruto-Baka! If anything, Sasuke-kun should be in charge."

Naruto groaned and then held up his note. "Kakashi-sensei put me in charge. We're acting as a platoon. Since the sensei aren't around, someone had to be designated in charge and I was chosen. I get to pick two people who'll be second to me till the sensei place another group in charge. I choose Sasuke and Sakura obviously since I can trust them to do what's needed."

Kiba spoke up again. "That's dumb! Why would a jonin put you in charge? You're a dead last loser."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fine. Don't follow orders. When the Jonin get back, I'll report that you didn't and we can watch you get put back in the academy."

Kiba paled and quietly stepped back.

"Yeah. That's what I thought. Now, let's get some better defenses set up. Team Ten, you guys guard the window. Team Eight, you guys are sensors so keep your senses up for anyone who isn't one of the jonin sensei within a thirty foot radius of us. We'll keep by the door. Sasuke, Sakura, I need to talk to you."

After the rough opening the Genin organized themselves in the places as Naruto ordered and much more quietly picked up in conversation.

Ino ranted in a whisper to Shikamaru and Choji. "How dare that stupid dead last talk to us like that? I bet the sensei didn't even put him in charge. He's stupid arrogant and he's separated me from Sasuke-kun too. Forehead already had too much time with him."

"Troublesome." Came the reply from the pineapple haired shinobi. "Just let it go Ino. It doesn't matter and he made a good point."

"Yeah. *munch* Shika's right Ino. It's not *munch* a big deal." The fat, I mean big boned, Akamichi said.

Kiba was similarly ranting to his teammates. "I can't believe the moron is in charge."

Shino pushed his glasses closer to his nose. "Perhaps you will have other chances to show your prowess then Kiba."

"Yeah, K-k-kiba-kun. I'm s-s-sure you'll get another chance soon." Hinata said, staring at Naruto. ' _Though, it is really good to see Naruto-kun again. I hope he didn't fall more in love with Sakura.'_

* * *

Two hours passed in similar fashion, after making an emergency escape plan with Sasuke, Naruto spent the rest of his time talking to Tazuna, absorbing any information that the old man would give him. He found the bridge builder annoying, since the man seemed to have no faith in the Genin but he was at least informative. From the information, Naruto understood the poor condition, economically and morale wise, of the place they were going to. He understood the purpose of this mission more now. That would help with his own determination for success.

The Genin tensed slowly as the door opened but most of them relaxed when the three jonin walked in. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stayed tense.

"Identify yourself." Naruto said drawing a kunai.

"Naruto-Baka! Can't you see that they're our sensei?" Ino asked angrily.

"Ino. How do you know that when the Transformation Jutsu exists?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Ino tried to stutter a response while Naruto pressed again.

"Identify yourself or we will respond as if you were an enemy!"

Kakashi held up his hands. "I'm Kakashi Hatake with Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi. I'm the sensei of team seven and I happen to know that the last time you ate at Ichiraku's ramen, you at thirteen bowls of ramen exactly which cost me ten thousand four hundred yen."

Naruto nodded. "Who is my hero that you know pretty well?"

Kakashi eye smiled. "That would be my father."

Naruto nodded again and relaxed as the other Genin in the room looked at him with surprise.

"Welcome back sensei. Hi Asuma-sensei and Kurenai sensei."

The jonin standing behind Naruto greeted him while Kakashi stepped forward and looked around. "Good job with organizing and with questions guys. Especially you, Naruto."

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "It was nothing sensei. What's the plan now?"

Asuma spoke up gruffly. "Now, we move out. We couldn't get much information about who hired the demon brothers other than Gatou. We don't know who they'll send next. So, we need to prepare to deal with a jonin or multiple ones."

Kurenai produced a map quickly. "We'll move across the ocean from the next town. It's about an hour out. That's the first point where there might be an ambush. After we cross, there's a small lake. Assuming that the next ninja will also be a missing nin from the mist village, that's the next spot. We'll have to be extra careful there."

Tazuna gruffly looked around. "Well, I suppose you brats will have to be on guard from now on. You'd better not let me die."

With those words, he walked out the door, followed quickly by the Jonin and the Genin who mumbled angrily at the bridge builder.

* * *

Surprisingly, for Naruto and Team Seven, the trip across the ocean was fairly straight forward. The three teams crossed in three separate boats. One boat had the real Tazuna and the other two carried clones of Naruto transformed to look like Tazuna.

As they finished crossing under the bridge and made it to land, the teams began moving towards Tazuna's house, dispelling the clones to save some chakra as needed.

"My house isn't too far now." Tazuna said quietly and soberly, the first time Naruto had seen the old man without alcohol. "It's only about another half hour walk to the lake and another fifteen minutes from there to my house."

Kakashi and the other Jonin nodded keeping their senses high as they approached the lake. Naruto and the other Genin also remained alert, intent on not messing up their first major mission by having the client killed in front of them. As the lake came into sight, Naruto picked up on some sounds from the bushes nearby. Reacting on instinct, He threw a kunai into the bush.

"What the hell, dead last?" Kiba yelled. "Don't try to show off!"

Ignoring the yell, Naruto checked the bushes to find a white bunny that the kunai had barely missed.

"Look at that Naruto-Baka. You scared a poor rabbit. Stop trying to be like Sasuke-kun." Ino said, rolling her eyes.

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I thought I felt some killing intent."

As he did, Kakashi carefully examined the rabbit. _'Wait a second. It's spring time. There's no white rabbits in the spring. Kawarimi no jutsu!'_

He quickly looked at Kurenai and Asuma and saw they'd reached the same conclusion. As they did, he heard a whooshing noise coming from behind him.

"Get down!" Kakashi yelled as he tackled the two closest people to him, Tazuna and Shino. Asuma grabbed Shikamaru and Choji and shoved them to the ground as Kurenai did the same with Hinata and Kiba. Sasuke grabbed Sakura not trusting her slower reflexes and pulled her down as he dropped. Ino was tackled by Naruto, moments before a large sword flew spinning over their heads before impaling itself into a tree.

As the ninja looked up, they saw a tall man standing on the handle of the sword. The man had short black hair and his mouth was covered by bandages. He wore no shirt but had weirdly camo arm warmers and leg warms. His headband was tied at an angle and wore the mark of the Village Hidden in the Mist. The band had a scratch on the plate marking the ninja as a missing nin.

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, what a surprise to see you here." Kakashi spoke up.

Naruto noticed that all three Jonin had tensed visibly. ' _This guy must be something serious for all three sensei to be tense about the fight.'_

"So, you've heard about me." The ninja standing in the tree said. "I've heard of you too. Kakashi Hatake, the man feared as Kakashi of the Sharingan. When I was in the mist country, our Bingo Books had kill on sight and flee on sight orders for you. And the man behind you, Asuma Sarutobi, with the same orders. How terrifying. I don't recognize the girl though."

Sasuke froze in shock and turned look at Kakashi. ' _Kakashi of the Sharingan? What?'_

"We shouldn't play around too long, so I'll get serious right away." Kakashi said as he raised his headband revealing a red eye with three spinning tomoe.

"The Sharingan already? I'm honored." Zabuza said laughing.

' _He does have the Sharingan. How? Where did he get it from?'_

"Pssst. Sasuke." Naruto's voice interrupted the brooding. "What's the Sharingan?"

Sasuke turned to Naruto and began in a quiet voice. "It's the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan. It's a doujutsu that allows the user to copy jutsu and to predict the opponent's movements. I don't know how Kakashi-sensei got it though."

"So, this fight should be over fast?"

"Maybe. The fact that he's using it already must mean this guy is pretty tough."

Zabuza held up his hands and began forming seals as Asuma barked at the Genin to defend Tazuna. Kurenai prepared to place Zabuza in a genjutsu as Kakashi began copying the hand seals.

Before anyone could start fighting however, three senbon hit Zabuza in the neck, knocking him from the tree. A few meters away, a swirl of ice and water revealed a boy about the age of the Genin wearing a white mask with red marking and the symbol of the Hidden Mist.

"Thank you for distracting him long enough for me to get him. I have been tracking Zabuza for quite a long time."

Kakashi stepped forward, covering his eye and checked the pulse on Zabuza. "He's dead." He announced to the others. He drew a kunai and stabbed both of the dead ninja's arms. "Yeah. The blood pressure is lower too."

He stood back up and then moved away. "Thank you for your help. Hunter ninja-san."

The hunter ninja picked up Zabuza's body and disappeared in a swirl of ice and water.

Kakashi turned to the Genin, who were still shocked by the fact that a ninja appearing their age killed a Jonin. "Well, Tazuna-san. Off to your house we go."

* * *

The ninja escorted Tazuna to his house without any problems and they quickly set about organizing defenses around the house. The Jonin stopped to talk to Tazuna and his daughter, Tsunami, explaining what they planned to do and how escort and defense details would take place. After doing so, Kurenai set about helping Tsunami cook enough food for all of her visitors as the two male Jonin pulled the genin aside to explain how things would work to them.

Asuma began the explanation first. "Alright. Team Seven has been gracious enough to agree to defend the bridge and Tazuna for us. We, Team Eight and Team Ten, will be defending the home and training."

Then genin nodded.

"What about at night?" Shino asked, looking at the two Jonin. "It would only be logical for the shinobi to attack at night. Why? Because it would be prudent to assume that most people would be asleep. Why? Because it is only logical that we would be tired after training."

"That will be left to my team. We've got a way to make sure that we can all rest without worrying too much about any night time ambush." Kakashi said nonchalantly reading his little orange book getting glares from all the females in the room.

"We have something more important to share though." Asuma said. "Kakashi, you explain."

Kakashi nodded. "Zabuza is probably still alive."

The statement immediately earned loud exclamations of surprise and outrage from all of the genin.

Kakashi held up a hand to quiet them and continued. "Hunter ninja are supposed to dispose of the body on sight. Even when a bounty is required, they simply take the head and then burn the body to prevent their country's secrets from escaping. The fact that the hunter ninja we encountered simply shunshined away with the body means that he's working for Zabuza."

The team got eerily quiet while Tazuna spoke up. "Isn't it possible that you're just over thinking this?" He said quietly, voice quavering with fear.

"We could be. But, even then, they'll most likely just send someone stronger. We shouldn't take the risk." Kakashi said standing. "Come on then. Let's go eat and then head to bed. Naruto, your clones are what we're using as night time defense."

Naruto nodded. "Sounds good, I was making some anyway. About how many should I have?"

"You can make as many as you want since sleeping will rebuild your chakra."

Naruto grinned. "Awesome."

* * *

Somewhere else, the hunter ninja set Zabuza's body to the ground. After doing so, he removed the bandages from Zabuza's mouth and pulled a pair of scissor like tools. "Let's see. I think I'll drain some blood first.

Suddenly, Zabuza's hand shot up and grabbed the ninja's wrist. "I can do that myself." Zabuza sat up and then roughly removed the senbon from his neck.

"You're always so rough, Haku."

Haku, laughed melodiously. "I just didn't want to scar your beautiful body, Zabuza-sama. But, if you pull them out like that you could really hurt your body."

Zabuza chortled mirthlessly. "You didn't have to do that. I could've handled them."

Haku removed his mask. "I don't think so. Two ninja of your caliber, another jonin that you don't know anything about, and 9 genin. Even with me, it would be a bit much. I managed to free the Demon Brothers. We should plan more carefully."

Zabuza smiled at Haku. "You're so bright, kid. And pure. That's what I love about you."

"What happened to my arms?"

"Kakashi was smart. The stab wounds were a check he did to see if you had the right blood pressure for death. I simulated it fine but your arms won't be useful for at least two weeks even with my treatment."

"I'll get him back for that one."

* * *

The next morning, Naruto was up early and quickly moved outside into the woods behind Tazuna's house. He dispelled one of his hundred clones to absorb any information calculated by it. There had been no intruders or attack the night before but the clones remained on high alert. The clone he dispelled had been sent to scout out the wooded area around the house. He'd found a small lake 10 miles north of the village that connected to a small waterfall around 4 miles west from the lake. The tall pine trees were similar in size to the trees of Konoha too so he used them to try to get a vantage point but he couldn't find much information other than the way the village was structured.

After reviewing the information that he got from the clone, Naruto began to train. He had two of his clones return from their posts to begin tree walking again to make sure they had a total grasp of the movements. Then, he grabbed a left and set about to cutting it with chakra.

"I'm surprised you're up already, dobe." Came a quiet voice from the direction of the house, interrupting Naruto's conversation.

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke walking towards him from the house. "I was up before you sleeping beauty. I don't know what you're talking about."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I think it was more that you couldn't sleep because of Kiba's snoring. Why couldn't we get Shino in our room again?"

Naruto scoffed. "Because Shikamaru called him first. He said Kiba was way too troublesome and that you and I were troublesome enough to deal with him."

Sasuke sighed. "What're you working on?"

"I've got two clones working on tree walking and I'm working on cutting this stupid leaf."

Sasuke grunted, jealous of the dobe's ability to do multiple things at once using the clones. Still there was a grudging respect considering that he didn't have nearly enough chakra to even perform the jutsu once. Not that he hadn't tried.

* * *

** _Flashback**_

" _I demand that he teaches me that jutsu!" Sasuke yelled at Kakashi angrily. "How come some dobe gets a jutsu that speeds up his ability to learn instead of me? I'm the last Uchiha. I need that power to get my revenge."_

 _Kakashi sighed. "You don't need it to get revenge. Itachi doesn't know that jutsu well enough to use it more than once. Even I can barely make 5 clones. You don't have the chakra yet."_

" _You don't know what Itachi's capable of. He slaughtered my whole clan. I demand that I be taught that jutsu."_

 _Naruto spoke up. "Sensei, I'm willing to teach it to him."_

 _Both Kakashi and Sasuke turned to Naruto in shock._

" _What? I mean, he is my teammate. Plus, like you said, even if he can use the jutsu the chances of him being able to use it like I can are minimal."_

 _Kakashi nodded, suppressing another sigh. "Fine. Show him."_

 _Naruto took the time to show Sasuke the hand seal, explain the theory, and how to use the jutsu._

 _Sasuke channeled his chakra, gathering most of it and then called out the jutsu. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"_

 _As he did, he felt his chakra drain and heard the puff of smoke. He collapsed to his knees, panting, and too tired to stand. He looked to the side to see a clone that looked pale and lifeless, similar to the clones he'd seen Naruto create during their time at the academy._

" _You didn't use enough chakra." Naruto said quietly._

 _Sasuke looked up from his position on the ground, breathing hard. The jutsu took away most of his chakra. He didn't feel like he could even stand with his remaining reserves._

 _Sakura fussed over him and he couldn't even ward the fangirl of. Around them, about 20 of Naruto's clones continued doing the tree climbing exercise._

'Damn. How much chakra does Naruto have?' _He thought. "Never mind. Not using that jutsu for a long time."_

" _Good idea." Kakashi said with an eye smile as Naruto laughed at his teammate._

 _**End Flashback**_

* * *

Sasuke shook himself from his memory as he began to start walking up the tree again. "Where's Sakura, dobe?"

Naruto turned to Sasuke as he continued to channel wind chakra towards the leaf. "I guess she's still asleep. Should we wake her up?"

Sasuke continued walking up the tree, moving slowly to tax his chakra reserves and his muscles more. "I'm not doing it. That room has two fangirls, her and Ino. Even if Sakura's gotten better, I'm not dealing with Ino at 4:30 in the morning."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I'll send a clone to do it." He dispelled one of the clones that was tree walking, absorbing the information from the clone. He made another clone which took off to wake up Sakura. With that, Naruto returned to cutting his leaf.

"By the way, teme, what made you think about Sakura?" Naruto asked. "I assumed she'd want to train a little since we're defending the bridge today."

"Oh. I see." Naruto said throwing Sasuke a huge grin. "You sure that's all?"

"Dobe."

"Yeah, teme?"

"Shut up."

Naruto burst out laughing at his teammate's words and Sasuke smirked before they both resumed training.

* * *

Naruto 3.0 made his way to the window to the girl's room and gently rapped on the glass.

Sakura immediately woke up and opened the window. "What're you doing here, Naruto? And why are you here so early?"

"Boss and Teme sent me to wake you up. You coming to train?"

Sakura sighed. "Yeah hold on."

As Sakura gathered her equipment and tied her headband to her head, Naruto looked around the room before noticing something.

"Wait. Is Ino naked?"

The words left his mouth, when Sakura realizing the blunder threw a kunai that hit Naruto between his eyes, dispelling the clone.

"Ino should've known better but stupid Naruto's a pervert too."

* * *

Naruto shot backward, blood dripping from his nose, as the memories from his clone returned to him. He sat up and wiped the blood from his nose ignoring Sasuke's strange look.

"I forgot that it's not just guys that sleep naked." Naruto said by way of explanation.

Sasuke snorted, now standing upside down on a tree shooting think streams of fire to knock pinecones down by burning only their stems. Kakashi had taught him this jutsu, a basic fire starting jutsu, to show him that even the simplest technique could make their way into fights. This jutsu, he'd explained was great for hitting through cracks and small holes.

"Naruto-Baka! Stop being a pervert!" Sakura yelled as she walked up to the two training boys.

"Sorry Sakura. I didn't think that she'd be sleeping naked."

Sakura rolled her eyes and pulled a scroll from her pouch. The scroll contained instructions for Earth Style: Swift Earth which was allows the user to move the earth in front of them within a certain range to move swiftly backwards like a conveyor belt. This jutsu, Kakashi said, would give her evasion and help the team set up powerful combinations.

"Naruto, lend me a clone. I'm gonna practice this jutsu on him."

* * *

Naruto nodded, making a clone for her and then returned to his own training. He'd managed to create a clean cut through half of the leaf. If he could create that cut all the way through the leaf, he could move on.

Team Seven made their way back to the house two and a half hours later, to find that the other genin were finally awake and currently eating a simple breakfast of rice and natto that Kakashi and Asuma prepared.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino yelled as she tackled him. "Where have you been? Were you working out? You're all sweaty and manly!"

"Hn. (Someone get her off me. Please. I beg you.)"

"Oh, Sasuke-kun! You're so silly." Ino said cuddling closer as Sakura tried to pry her off.

"Ino-pig, get off Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.

As the girls fought over Sasuke, Naruto picked up his own share of breakfast and found a seat near Hinata.

"Thank god, you're not like them Hinata-chan." He said.

"Eep!" With that, Hinata turned red and promptly fainted falling backward only to be caught by Kurenai.

"We'll have to work on that." The older jonin said before carrying Hinata to her room.

Naruto turned to Shino. "Why did she pass out like that?"

Shino shrugged simply. "I am not sure. Perhaps she is not feeling well." He lied.

Naruto nodded. "I hope she feels better soon."

As they continued to eat, a little boy made his way into the kitchen.

Tazuna exclaimed. "Inari! My boy! Come give your grandpa a hug! How're you today?"

Inari walked up and gave his grandfather a hug.

As he did, Tsunami spoke. "Inari thank these ninja. They're here to protect your grandpa."

Inari turned to look around at the various ninja in the room. "What's the point? They're all going to die anyway. No one's going to be able to stand up to Gatou."

Naruto grinned at the kid. "You wish, kid. We're gonna kick his ass."

The kid just looked at him before walking away. "I'm gonna go look at the ocean."

Tazuna looked around with sad eyes. "Sorry about that. He hasn't been the same since Gatou took over the island."

* * *

After breakfast, the team made their way to the bridge with Tazuna. As they walked there, Naruto asked the old man lots of questions about bridge building. Tazuna seemed to enjoy the interest in the topic and easily answered all of Naruto's questions.

As they approached the bridge, the team spread out taking proper defensive points. From his position, Naruto observed the bridge being built.

"Hey old man," He called out to Tazuna. "Does it normally take such a long time to get this done?"

Tazuna stopped and turned to Naruto. "No. We're really low on workers. It's unfortunate but so many people get scared of Gatou that they stop coming."

"How many workers do you need?" Naruto asked.

"I used to have over three hundred workers here. Now, we have about thirty. It's a pretty big change."

Naruto turned to Kakashi. "Sensei, clones could help right?"

Kakashi nodded to his student. "Yeah. Having the bridge complete faster would also work for our mission requirements. No more than 600 though."

Naruto nodded to his sensei laughing. "Here ya go, Tazuna-san."

With those words, Naruto created four hundred clones. "Just tell 'em what to do!"

Tazuna laughed happily and then immediately began calling out orders to the clones which set to work immediately.

The next three days passed in similar fashion. In the early mornings, Naruto and Team Seven would train. After the first morning, Kakashi began to join his team for the early morning training. Rather than train them as he did in the village, he simply offered suggestions to each genin based on what they chose to work on and then did training of his own.

Team Seven, inspired by their sensei's own training, began to train harder as well. Naruto had finally created a clean cut into the leaf. He'd eagerly shown Kakashi who congratulated him on the task. He'd followed up by handing Naruto a rock and told him to cut that. Naruto couldn't even scratch the thing though.

The progress on the bridge was going quickly too thanks to the 400 Naruto clones that eagerly worked on the bridge, happy to learn something new that could prove useful for a Hokage to understand.

* * *

The other thing that Naruto was slowly learning, interestingly, were table manners. Having found his mealtime etiquette absolutely horrendous, Kurenai had taken it upon herself to fix it. Every time he messed up, she often forced him to relive his kiss with Sasuke. As a result, Naruto quickly matured into a more polite eater.

Inari often still spoke rudely to the ninja but the ninja just ignored him, having heard the story of Kaiza from Tazuna.

* * *

** _Flashback**_

 _As the ninja sat in Tazuna's house eating together when Sakura noticed a picture on the wall of Inari, Tazuna, Tsunami, and some man whose face was torn away._

" _Say, Tazuna-san. Who's the man whose face is torn away here?"_

 _Tazuna looked at the picture and sighed sadly. "That man was the man who was the hero of our land, Kaiza."_

 _Inari suddenly stood up and ran out of the room._

 _Tsunami got up and began to follow. "Father, I told you not to talk about him around Inari."_

" _What happened to him?" Kiba asked bluntly earning a smack on his shoulder from Shikamaru._

 _Tazuna sadly looked up. "To understand what Kaiza meant, you have to understand Inari as a child. He was a shy child without any friends. The local children bullied him and his only companion was a small puppy. One day, the group of bullies found Inari and the puppy at the harbors and pushed both of them into the water. The puppy could swim. Inari, however, could not."_

" _T-t-that's horrible." Hinata said._

" _Inari fainted but when he woke up, he found Kaiza had saved him. Kaiza told Inari that a man would choose a life of no regrets and for that reason should protect the things precious to him with both arms no matter what. With that, Inari's hero became Kaiza. They were inseparable like father and son, and Tsunami really came to love Kaiza. They were married soon after."_

 _Naruto frowned. There was definitely bad news coming up._

" _He was the kind of man the city needed too. Once, during a flood where the dam was overflowing, Kaiza swam through the current and tied a rope to the gate so the village people could pull it closed. He was the city's hero. That was till Gatou came to the village."_

 _The smiles left the faces of everyone in the room._

" _What happened?" Kakashi asked._

" _Gatou had Kaiza publically executed. He had him dismembered then cut his stomach so that he would die slowly. With that, Inari lost all hope in courage and all faith in heroes. The whole town changed."_

** _End Flashback**_

* * *

After another long day of bridge building and eating, the ninja were relaxing quietly in Tazuna's house when Naruto suddenly stood up and began to walk outside.

"Where are you going Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto turned around for a moment. "I just want to walk around and work on some stuff. Don't worry, my clone are already in position and I'll be fine."

Kakashi nodded. "Have a good walk."

Naruto nodded and walked quietly out. He found a quiet clearing full of soft plants. There he sat and read his book on fuinjutsu. He felt strangely drawn to it and reading it comforted him.

There he sat and eventually, let sleep take him.

* * *

Haku stood by Zabuza and sighed. "Zabuza-sama, we're out of medical herbs. I'm going out to get some more."

Zabuza nodded. "Good. The faster I heal, the faster we can complete this job."

Haku turned to the Demon Brothers. "You aren't allowed to let him stand up."

Turning back to Zabuza, Haku kept talking. "I sent a message to him. He should be here."

"Good."

With those words, Haku changed into a pink flowery dress and grabbing a basket, walked out of the door.

The fake hunter ninja walked quietly through the woods, casually towards the same patch of herbs he'd found earlier. As he approached it though, Haku noticed that someone was asleep in it.

Cautiously, Haku made his way near Naruto, recognizing him as one of the nine genin that were defending Tazuna. Conflicted, Haku slowly reached towards Naruto's neck. Cursing his softness, though, he instead shook Naruto by his shoulder.

"Hey, wake up. You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here."

Naruto groaned and opened his eyes to see a beautiful face above him with a heart shaped face, beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and full lips. He immediately muttered, "Tenshi?"

The girl giggled out. "I'm afraid not. You aren't really dead."

Naruto sat up blushing quickly. "Whoops."

Haku laughed again. "That's okay. I was simply picking some herbs for a friend who was hurt when I saw you here. I apologize if I woke you too early."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah. I should've been awake. Would you like some help picking those herbs?"

"Sure!"

Naruto spent the next half hour helping Haku pick herbs as they talked. Haku explained the concept of precious people to him which Naruto agreed with heartily.

Then Haku stopped. "That should be plenty! Time for me to leave. Thank you, Naruto-san."

Naruto nodded. "Anytime! Have a safe walk home."

Haku thanked him and began to walk away. "By the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto fell over. _'First I kiss Sasuke. Now, I call a boy an angel. What's happening to me?!'_

* * *

Five more days passed with the same schedule for the genin. Not much changed for the Konoha ninja, other than that they improved. Team Eight and Team Ten's genin were currently improving at tree climbing.

Team Seven, long having mastered the technique, had moved on. They'd begun to learn Water Walking and all three genin were decent at it. Sasuke was the fastest to pick up on the technique thanks to having both a decent chakra pool and decent control. Sakura had picked up the technique quickly but she could not sustain the walk for long. As a result, Kakashi had her run laps on the water till she fell in, always having a Naruto clone on standby or himself to prevent her from suddenly fainting and drowning.

Naruto had struggled with the water walking due to his poor control at first but easily learned the technique using his shadow clones. The sheer repetition and the 24/7 practice made him learn it easily. However, Kakashi had insisted that Naruto also do jumps from the water to increase the power of his chakra. He had Naruto do squats in the water and then jump as high as possible before landing on the water without sinking in. The control required to do that proved difficult and tiring as well.

Naruto had also learned to make sealing scrolls during his time working with Kakashi. Not particularly useful for any coming battles, but still useful in the long run.

During the nights, Naruto had gotten closer to the other genin as well. He spent most of his time sitting either with Sasuke and Sakura, reading quietly as Sasuke brooded and Sakura fangirled. Other times, usually in the evenings, when Ino and Sakura fought over Sasuke and the poor boy was trapped in between, Naruto hung out with Shikamaru and Choji. He enjoyed playing games of Shogi with Shikamaru and occasionally Shino, Kakashi, and Asuma.

He found the games fun. He and Shikamaru played the most and nearly almost always ended in draws. Occasionally, he would win but lose immediately after to the Nara. With Shino and Asuma, both Naruto and Shikamaru remained undefeated but against Kakashi neither genin could win. The loss was ridiculously frustrating for both as it was always an overwhelming defeat.

Naruto also found Shino's bugs fascinating and asked him questions frequently about the creatures. Shino found the interest great and happily discussed the bugs explaining how he could use them to suction chakra away from enemies and track people.

Naruto found Kiba and Hinata fairly nice too. He found it a little hard to talk to both of them though. Kiba was loud, abrasive, and much like he used to be prior to the Mizuki event. Hinata just fainted a lot when Naruto spoke to her which made getting to know her difficult.

Naruto and Shikamaru by the door playing another game of Shogi after another day of work. The boys played calmly while Kakashi sat nearby while reading his little orange book and examining the game between the Naruto and Shikamaru.

Sasuke was sitting with Shino while the three girls sat together gossiping about something. Kiba was talking about something with Choji as Asuma and Kurenai sat together talking in hushed tones.

Tazuna sat drinking as Tsunami finished doing the dishes.

Inari sat glaring at the genin in the room.

Suddenly he burst out, "Why do you guys try so hard? No matter how hard you train or what you do, you'll never be any match for Gatou's men! No matter what glorious claim you're making or how hard you work, you need to realize that when facing the strong the weak will always die!"

The room became deathly quiet and the only sounds was a wooden tap as Naruto moved a Shogi piece forward. "I couldn't agree more. That's why we're gonna beat him. We're not like you, we aren't crybabies."

Inari stood up and banged his hands on the table, tears streaming from his eyes. "SHUT UP! I don't want to be like you! I'd hate to be like you. What the hell do you know about me or our country? You don't know anything about me. You guys are always acting so cheerful and playing around. You guys don't know anything about how hard life is."

There was a sudden crack as a table crunched under Sasuke's fingers.

Sasuke looked up at Inari, shaking. "So, you're just some kind of a hero of a tragedy huh?"

* * *

 _**Flashback**_

" _No! Sasuke! Don't come in!"_

 _The dead bodies of his parents. His brother, Itachi standing there was holding a katana, freshly pulled from his mother's body._

" _Ni-san why? Why did you do this? The entire clan…"_

 _A kunai whizzed by Sasuke cutting through his shoulder._

" _That was foolish of you, Sasuke." Itachi said coldly._

 _Sasuke looked on horrified as Itachi's eyes transformed. "Tsukuyomi."_

 _Sasuke's body collapsed._

" _For the next 1000 hours, you shall witness the events of tonight. In detail."_

 _A moment passed and Sasuke looked up at his brother. "Why? Why did you kill everyone?"_

 _Itachi looked at Sasuke passively, "They were a tool for me to measure myself with."_

" _What?" Sasuke said weakly. "Just for that, you killed everyone. That's bullshit!"_

 _Sasuke stood and ran at Itachi, before he could do much though, Itachi punched him in the gut._

 _Sasuke collapsed again looking into his mother's dead face. '_ I'm scared. I don't wanna die!'

 _With a terrified scream, Sasuke began running away. "I don't wanna die! Don't kill me!"_

" _Foolish little brother, you're too weak to kill. Run. Survive. If you want revenge, live miserable, train, hate me. Learn to survive."_

** _End Flashback**_

* * *

"You think you have a hard life? You don't know anything brat. You sit there with your mom and grandfather to take care of you. You've got food to eat a roof over your head. You don't end up walking into the same house where your family was slaughtered every day."

Sasuke angrily moved to punch Inari, but before he could Naruto's fist slammed into his face.

"Chill teme. It's not like you're the only one pissed about what the brat said." Naruto said cracking his knuckles.

"Come on. Let's go work your anger off."

Sasuke stood wiping a little blood away from his face as he did. "Yeah. Let's go." With those words, Sasuke walked out the door, with his hands quietly in his pocket.

Naruto turned to Inari. "He's right, you know? You have people to care for you. Some of us don't have that luxury."

"Sensei. We're gonna spar till Teme calms down."

* * *

Kakashi found Inari sitting down on a pier looking out onto the water with a picture of Kaiza.

"Sasuke didn't mean to be so harsh." Kakashi said startling him. "Neither did Naruto, I suppose."

"Sasuke's family was killed before his eyes. Naruto never knew either of his parents. They've had pasts much rougher than yours, believe it or not. Yet, they both never cry. They both work hard. Naruto especially never lets what others say affect him keeping his path on his dream. They're probably sick of crying. Naruto probably understands your feelings better than most people. Sasuke understands wanting revenge too. They both probably care about you because you're a little like they were as kids.

* * *

Sakura sat quietly in her room. Finally, it registered why on that first day, during the test, Sasuke had snapped at her when she criticized Naruto's lack of parents.

' _They're the same. They both don't have parents to care for them. I was so horrible to Naruto.'_

That thought moved Sakura to tears, regret piling up from her treatment of Naruto over the years.

' _He's changed so much too. I really owe him an apology.'_

* * *

The next morning, all the ninja gathered in the main area. Naruto and Sasuke had sparred late into the night but eventually had returned to sleep. The boys seemed to have bonded over the experience and whatever they'd talked about seemed to have relaxed them both. That morning during training, Sakura had apologized to Naruto as well, who happily forgave her. After the morning, he returned to calling her "Sakura-chan" which Sakura happily accepted.

The ninja gathered in the room because due to the bridge being almost entirely finished, any attack on the old bridge builder would come the day of. Naruto would leave behind 5 clones to defend Inari and Tsunami, but the rest of the force planned to join Tazuna at the bridge for a last day battle.

* * *

In the woods, further away Zabuza swung his sword happily. "Full recovery. Let's go get a severed head."

Haku nodded donning his mask and prepared to move as the Demon brothers finished cleaning their weapons.

"Time for revenge." They said eerily at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting fifty percent of the money right, Zabuza? After all, I'm doing you a huge favor." A tall man behind Zabuza said. His black cloak swished as he stepped into the light, the red clouds on it swirling around him. A strange sword hung on his back, wrapped in bandages. His shark-like skin and sinister grin belied his blood thirst.

"Yeah, Kisame. You'll get your share. What's up with the funny clothing?"

"That's not something you need to know about. Now, let's get going. I'm looking forward to a decent fight and some great cash."

* * *

 **A.N. – Cliffhanger! I hope you guys like the chapter. The next chapter will close up the wave arc. After that, I'm gonna add a small arc in before the chunin exams. This chapter was pretty long and I'll try to keep the next one about as long too.**

 **As always guys, thank you so much for reading. Be sure to send me any critique you guys have as a review. Tell me if you wanna see something or feel something important needs to be improved upon.  
**


	6. Battle on the Bridge

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. Here's the biggest part of the wave arc, probably the part you guys were most looking forward to, the fight. Like last chapter, I'm going to take this one to address some questions I got, since I can't really respond to reviews from guests.**

 **One of the questions I got was "why doesn't Naruto use more clones for training things like elemental manipulation?" In retrospect, I didn't explain this as well as I thought I did. The reason is pretty simple. I think Kishimoto made the jutsu too easy for Naruto to use and so I gave it a little drawback. Dispelling lots of clones at once pretty much just knocks out Naruto. The reason he's not using a lot of clones on the mission is that he doesn't know when he'll have to fight. He's trying to conserve chakra as much as needed and only uses them in large numbers to help with bridge building. If he's suddenly forced to dispel them all and he passes out, it would be bad. Eventually, he'll be able to withstand that more as he grows from training. When he's back in the village, he'll crank up the training on the clones a lot more too.**

 **The next question was about the polls. There are one or two older ladies on the poll. If they're "elected", then their age will be modified to around sixteen because otherwise that's just creepy.**

 **I also just realized that I never had Naruto swap clothing, meaning he's still wearing his orange jumpsuits. I promise that I'll fix that ASAP.**

 **There are two people I'd like to thank as well. I'd like to give a shout out to Ben91 and TinkaPrime. They've given me awesome feedback and just really helpful reviews that inspire me to keep writing with their kind words and helpful suggestions/reviews.**

 **Plus, Tinka taught me how to make better cookies so points for that.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: My plan to gain the rights to Naruto failed. I still do not own it.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal Character Speech**

' _Hey' –_ **Normal Character Thinking**

" **Hey" – Demons/Large creature Speech**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Demons/Large creature thinking**

" _ **Hey" – Inner Sakura**_

* * *

 **The Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

When the ninja arrived at bridge, the two workers present at the moment were found lying on the ground. They weren't dead but they were unconscious and extremely cut up. Tazuna ran up to one of the mean and shook him.

"Sanda, what's wrong? Who did this?"

"Tazuna-san, I think we know who did this." Kakashi said pointing to the edge of the bridge. There, five shinobi stood. Zabuza and Haku were easily recognized by the Genin. Team Eight and Team Ten exclaimed at seeing the Demon Brothers giving away their identity to Team Seven who began to formulate things based on what the things they heard from the other two teams during their time over the last two weeks.

The last ninja however, none of the Genin recognized. The Jonin, however, immediately recognized him.

Kakashi groaned. "Kisame Hoshigake. Two of the Seven Mist Swordsmen are here, great. Zabuza called for backup and this one is more dangerous than he is."

Naruto spoke up. "More dangerous than Zabuza, the demon of the hidden mist?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. Zabuza is classified in our Bingo Book as an A rank ninja. There's not even flee on sight or kill on sight orders. Just a bounty of twenty million yen. Kisame on the other hand is an S rank ninja in our Bingo Book with direct flee on sight orders. The other ninja complicate things. What's the plan, Asuma, Kurenai?"

As the other jonin quickly formulated a plan, Kakashi called out to the enemy ninja. "Zabuza, you brought friends!"

The mist jonin laughed out. "Well, considering you had two jonin with you, it was only fair. Not to mention you have so many genin too."

"I guess that's fair, but you picked a big bad wolf as your back up. I didn't know we could invite animals to the party."

Kisame laughed loudly. "I like you Kakashi. I'm gonna enjoy tearing the skin from your body with my sword. I'll warn you now, it doesn't cut. It shreds and best of all, absorbs chakra."

Kakashi turned lightly back to his team. "What's the plan?"

Asuma nodded at Zabuza. "Why not let Kurenai and I deal with him? We'll leave Kisame to you."

Kakashi nodded. "You owe me for that. Should've left the couple thing out of the fight."

The two blushed. "We aren't dating. We'll just take him down quickly so we can both back you up." Kurenai said.

"Yeah. Yeah. Fine. Naruto, Sasuke, you're taking down the fake hunter-ninja. Sakura, you're guarding Tazuna."

"Hai!" The three ninja called out preparing for battle.

Asuma spoke next. "Team Eight and Team Ten, the demon brothers are yours. There's one for each of you but watch out for their teamwork."

"Got it!" The six genin responded.

Zabuza laughed. "Look at them, making plans. Haku, kill them all."

The boy nodded moving forward. He rushed in quickly to slaughter his opponents drawing senbon. Before he could do much, though he was countered by Naruto and Sasuke stopped the shinobi's movement using kunai and then quickly, moving in coordination moved the hunter ninja to the side of the bridge.

Zabuza looked at the small battle and grinned. "Look at that Kakashi, you had some kids that can play with Haku. Not bad. But, that boy's special. Special enough that even Kisame avoids a direct fight with him."

Kisame smacked Zabuza lightly. "He only beat me once, dammit!"

Kakashi shot the boys a concerned look before turning to his own fight. "I wouldn't underestimate them if I were you."

The demon brothers rushed out next and quickly pushed the two teams back away their area of the bridge, even pushing them hard enough to get the teams pushed away from the bridge onto the land entirely.

At the same moment Zabuza began moving toward Tazuna but was countered by a fireball from Kurenai as kunai from Asuma also flew into him. Asuma immediately charged slamming into his sword with his trench knives stalling him in place.

"Shall we start then, Kisame?" Kakashi said as he drew a kunai and the mist ninja drew his own sword.

"With pleasure."

* * *

Haku found himself hard pressed against the two boys he was fighting. Not only were both boys excellent at keeping him pinned back, unable to get time to form hand seals but they worked well off each other's attacks.

Naruto moved forward occupying Haku with a kunai matching his own. Haku prepared to land a kick at the orange clad genin. Before he could, however, Sasuke jumped over Naruto, landing a kick to Haku's face, disorienting the boy and causing him to stumble. The stumble gave Naruto just enough time that he could close in himself to the boy, slashing at him with a kunai.

Haku managed to step back quickly avoiding most of the cut but not unscathed as the kunai left a small cut on his chest. Responding quickly, trying to buy a little time, Haku threw his senbon at the two genin while moving backward. The senbon caused both Naruto and Sasuke to hesitate, forcing them to either dodge away or block which gave Haku just the time he needed. The masked boy quickly formed a few hand seals and called out, "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu".

The boy quickly spit out six hand sized balls of Water at the Konoha genin forcing Naruto and Sasuke to dodge away from the balls. Each missed shot hit the ground hit with such impact that it cracked the concrete a little.

"Damn Teme. He's got the counter to your element." Naruto said as he moved in on Haku again throwing three kunai to keep his hands from forming more seals.

"Shut up dobe. If you'd have finished learning how to control your damn wind chakra, then we could've over powered this fool." Sasuke pushed in behind Naruto forming his own hand seals as Naruto closed in on Haku.

Naruto quickly engaged Haku with a combination of punches and kicks. He threw a straight punch at Haku's head which the boy blocked quickly only to notice a stamp kick from the blonde aimed at his knee. He jumped over the kick but before he could do much else, Naruto used his headband as a weapon, head butting Haku in the stomach knocking him back a bit. Naruto moved in again drawing a kunai to as he did aiming slashes at his opponent's weak points.

Haku again found himself pressed by the blonde genin, who wasn't anything special. Haku was far more experienced of course and quickly used a senbon to block a slash, causing the boys to clash. Naruto pressed his kunai against Haku's senbon pressing hard to overwhelm the boy with his strength.

"Looks like we're tied." Naruto said to Haku grinning hugely.

"Perhaps. But, you are at a disadvantage. You see, I have one hand available."

Naruto gave the boy a strange look. "What?"

Suddenly Haku quickly made hand seals with one hand and announced. "Ice style: Thousand Needles of Death!"

The water from the previous water bullets suddenly rose, hardening into ice and forming a thousand senbon.

"Ah Shit." Naruto said. _'I cannot get hit by that. Channel chakra to the legs, use the chakra to push backwards.'_

Naruto shot away from his location as the icy needles crashed into his former location. As he hurtled backward, Naruto tossed two kunai at Haku which the boy blocked.

"Fire style: Flaming Spear". The words caused Haku to stop in shock as Sasuke launched a thin stream of fire which whizzed under Naruto's army. Haku jumped away a little late, causing his sleeve to catch fire. Before he could respond to his arm, however, Naruto was in his face again landing harsh punches to his gut that forced him to double over. The punches were followed a speedy spin kick that sent him flying back.

Haku looked up from his place to see Naruto and Sasuke standing beside each other, both preparing to engage the boy again. _'I had hoped not to use it. Now, unfortunately, it seems I should not hold back.'_

Haku stood shakily and then looked at his opponents. "You two are skilled. Forgive me, but I shall no longer hold back."

Naruto and Sasuke tensed but before they could respond, Haku had finished a set of hand seals. "Hidden Jutsu: Demon Ice Mirrors".

Mirrors of Ice formed around the two Konoha genin forming a dome around them. Haku stepped into the mirrors and drew a few senbon. In a second, the two genin had senbon stabbed into them as Haku's image flew from mirror to mirror.

"Shit." Naruto said.

"Hn."

* * *

The demon brothers easily pushed the genin of Team Eight and Team Ten away from the bridge closer to the area near Tazuna.

"Gozu, you handle the team with the dog. I want the team with the little blonde." Meizu said.

Gozu nodded. "Don't break her too quickly."

The genin prepared to fight as the two individual chunin rushed each team.

* * *

As soon as combat started, Team Eight found themselves pressed by Gozu who despite having been easily knocked out by Asuma earlier was more than a match for the genin. Gozu used his superior taijutsu to keep the genin pushed away, using his poisoned claws to threaten the genin.

Kiba had already had Akamaru transform into his beat clone but even with the extra fighter, Gozu seemed to easily overwhelm the ninja, using his chain and claw to knock Kiba away while also using the boy as a block against the Aburame bugs and Hinata.

* * *

Meizu slowly approached Team Ten drawing a kunai. "Why don't you kids surrender? Hand over the pretty girl and at least you boys won't have to die."

"No way!" Ino yelled. "If you two quit, I'll kill you myself." She said looking at Shikamaru and Choji menacingly.

"Relax, Ino. Shika and I won't abandon you like that." Choji said.

"Troublesome. He's right. It would be too much trouble. Now, let's figure out how to beat him. Buy me some time. I have a plan."

The other two nodded and rushed forward engaging the chunin. Choji began to immediately fight him using the Akamichi taijutsu as Ino provided support using poison and explosives.

* * *

Asuma and Kurenai were having the easiest time on the bridge. Still, Zabuza was proving a difficult opponent for the both of them. As soon as they'd begun to fight, Zabuza had used his Hidden Mist jutsu to block their sight, making it difficult for both Jonin to spot out their enemy. Zabuza's Silent Killing technique made it difficult for them to pin down his location as well.

On the other hand, Zabuza found Asuma to be equally skilled in close quarters combat. His only real advantage once Asuma could see him was the range of his sword against the trench knives of Asuma and even that was negated as Kurenai manipulated his senses with her genjutsu forcing him to constantly interrupt his own chakra flow to escape the genjutsu.

Asuma quickly moved into Zabuza's guard, slashing at his gut. Zabuza took a step back avoiding the blade entirely, but thanks to Asuma's wind element modifying the blade received a cut to his torso. He wasn't given any time to dwell on the cut as he suddenly began seeing double and found himself trying to deal with two copies of Asuma. Assuming one to be a shadow clone, Zabuza slashed at its head only to notice his sword pass through entirely and felt a trench knife from thin air stab into his arm. The pain broke the genjutsu but now, the disadvantages piled up as he retreated into the mist taking time to plan and recover.

* * *

Kakashi stood facing off against Kisame, sharingan eye whirling as he prepared to fight the shark-like missing ninja. Deciding to take the initiative, Kakashi tossed a kunai at his opponent before charging at the man. Kisame easily blocked the kunai with Samehada and slashed at Kakashi's head.

Kakashi ducked under the sword and using another kunai stabbed at Kisame. This one was also met with Samehada. Despite the large size of the man, Kakashi quickly found in a continued exchange that the man was fast, probably almost as fast as himself. He tried to make some space to channel chakra but every time he began, he found that the chakra seemed to disappear as Kisame's sword swung by him.

"Having issues performing jutsu, Sharingan Kakashi?" Kisame asked grinning.

"Hm. Now, why would I tell you if I was?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly, despite internally beginning to panic.

"That's true but you should know that my beloved Samehada absorbs chakra. It loves the feast and you've fed it quite a bit. That lets me have plenty of chakra too. It won't absorb jutsu sadly, but oh well."

Kakashi quickly began reformulating a plan based off the information he'd learned. He immediately pulled away, retreating quite a lot from Kisame throwing a kunai and performing hand seals. "Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu". The one kunai turned into twenty that did not create much issue for Kisame but bought Kakashi enough time to perform another set of seals. "Wind Style: Vacuum Wave". Kakashi exhaled a fast moving sphere of vacuum wind which Kisame moved to block with his sword again. The sphere pushed Kisame back rather than becoming absorbed by the sword confirming what Kisame said just a little before.

Kakashi formed another series of hand seals. "Wind Style: Divine Wind" and exhaled a small tornado that moved quickly towards Kisame who began to move out of the way as Kakashi fired a stream of fire into it that turned it into a blazing hurricane that changed directions and began swirling towards Kakashi.

Kisame began to form his own hand seals and summoned a vortex of water that slammed into the fiery tornado eliminating it.

He didn't have much time to anything else, though as Kakashi was in his face with slashes aimed at his head with a kunai. Kisame blocked the hits and using his Samehada as a plant slammed his foot into Kakashi sending Kakashi flying away. Before he could get too far, Kisame also slashed with Samehada leaving a painful gash into Kakashi's left arm as he flew into the side of the bridge and collapsed with a pained gasp.

Kakashi stood shakily as Kisame rushed him and groaned as he prepared to deal the S rank missing ninja's next attack.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were not in a great position. Both boys, who till they became trapped in the mirror dome were easily overpowering Haku, found themselves no longer able to keep up with kunai stabbing them all over their body.

"This is annoying." Naruto said as he threw a shuriken at Haku's location, attempting to put some wind chakra into the blade. The shuriken hit the mirror cracking it slightly only for the mirror to repair itself immediately.

"He's slowing down." Sasuke said as he performed a few hand seals and launched a huge fireball at the mirrors which began to melt only to reform. "It's taking chakra to repair the mirrors too."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I can't tell that he's slowing down though."

Naruto quickly summoned twenty shadow clones that began attacking the mirrors as he moved closer to Sasuke to discuss a plan.

"What about explosive tags?"

"Try it."

Before too long though, all twenty clones were dispelled and Sasuke and Naruto found themselves covered in a few more senbon.

Ignoring the pain, the boys began hurling kunai covered in explosive tags at the mirrors, yet even that impact did not shatter the mirrors, though it left massive cracks that drained Haku to repair.

Slowly, though, Sasuke began responding to the attacks, blocking needle after needle aimed at him.

"Hey dobe. He's getting weaker. He hasn't hit me in a while."

"That's nice teme. I'm still getting peppered. How're you stopping his hits?"

"It's just really obvious where he's coming from. And he's moving so slowly that it's not really an issue."

Naruto stopped attacking and turned to Sasuke. "That made no sense. He hasn't slowed down that much at all. The only thing slowing down is the pace that he's repairing the mirrors."

Sasuke turned to face Naruto a bit. "What're you talking about dobe?"

Naruto paused looking at Sasuke's eyes. "Teme, your eyes are red."

Sasuke stopped. "How many?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, puzzled. "How many what?"

"How many tomoe in my eyes?"

"Two in one and only one in the other." Naruto replied feeling a little creeped out by the smirk on Sasuke's face.

"Sharingan." _'Finally. A chance to catch up to Itachi. It's begun.'_

Naruto grinned too. "Hell yeah. Let's crush this guy."

* * *

Gozu was finally starting to be worn down. He'd easily dealt with Team Ten earlier keeping the team pushed away using their teamwork against them. However, before long, he found himself starting to get tired which was a surprise for himself.

' _Tired already? Against these brats? That makes no sense.'_ He thought as he used his arm to deflect a strike from the blue haired girl and then spun to kick away Kiba and then jumped over a slow spinning Fang Over Fang from the transformed Akamaru.

As he did, he noticed Shino coming to punch him. He blocked the strange boy's punch and roughly kicked him away by kicking him in the gut. As he did however, he felt himself weaken even more.

' _What are they doing to me?'_ Gozu asked himself as he rushed towards the genin intent to kill them before they did anything else. As he did, however, he felt his legs give way under him, the chakra leaving his body quickly.

He looked up at the genin facing him. "What did you do to me?"

Shino held up his arms and bugs left his body. "These are Kikaichu bugs. They absorb chakra from the opponent. Additionally, you engaged Hinata here in a close quarters fight. Don't you know not to fight a Hyuga like that? Kiba was just a distraction. Now, knock him out and tie him up."

With that, Kiba swiftly chopped at the back of Gozu's head knocking him out.

* * *

Choji and Ino were also having a very hard time against Meizu. Choji had used his Expansion Jutsu to increase his size and roll around trying to pin the Chunin in place as Ino attacked using various ninja tools and taijutsu.

Meizu however, did not seem to be struggling against the two and took great pleasure in slowly cutting Ino with a kunai. He laughed maniacally as he did all the while speaking about all the things he'd do with her dead body, most of which made Ino turn green and yell at him furiously.

Suddenly, though, Meizu found himself unable to move.

"You forgot about me while you were busy saying troublesome things to Ino." Shikamaru said as he caught Meizu with his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"I think we'll let Ino handle you."

Ino smiled and formed the hand seal for her mind transfer. Once she'd possessed Meizu's body, she quickly attached a few explosive tags to his body, activated them and then returned to her own body.

Shikamaru released his control over Meizu.

Meizu snarled as he regained his senses and started to move towards the genin when he noticed a strange hissing from his body. He looked down and his eyes widened as he noticed the explosive tags.

"Boom." Shikamaru said as the tags blew up sending little pieces of Meizu flying all over the place. "Let's go check on Team Eight."

* * *

Asuma and Kurenai were now wearing down on Zabuza who was covered in wounds while the Konoha Jonin weren't even scratched. The mist that Zabuza had been using had long dwindled from a lack of chakra and concentration.

Zabuza dodged sideways as Kurenai blew a fireball in his direction, only to run into Asuma who managed to create two more gashes into his arm.

Zabuza stumbled back and tried to use his Head Cleaver to hack off Asuma's head only to find again that there was no Asuma there. Before he could dispel the genjutsu affecting his perception, he felt the wind enhanced trench knives dig themselves into his leg causing him to drop to a knee.

Asuma stood over him with Kurenai ready to defend him. "That wasn't too bad a fight. Sorry, Zabuza, but you're dead."

Asuma raised his trench knife and stabbed aiming for Zabuza's head.

* * *

Tsunami stood in the Kitchen quietly humming as she washed dishes. As she did, she heard the door open and called out. "Inari. I'm in the kitchen."

She continued to wash the dishes when she heard another voice. "Well, looks like the bridge builder had an attractive daughter."

Tsunami turned around, eyes widening as she saw the two thugs that worked for Gatou, the ones who had been present at Kaiza's execution.

"Why are you here?" She asked, voice trembling as she stepped back.

"Well, our employer has not much faith in the men he hired to kill your father. So, we're here to ensure that he'll surrender by taking you. We'll give you back to him piece by piece till he gives up on the bridge and then, maybe we'll let you go."

The thugs quickly tied up Tsunami and began to march her towards the door when Inari walked in.

The small boy looked at the thugs before he froze. "What're you doing?"

Tsunami quickly yelled at Inari. "Inari, get away from here. These men are Gatou's thugs."

Inari quickly turned and ran away into the house as the thugs prepared to chase him.

"Stop!" Tsunami called out. "If you chase him, I'll bit my tongue and kill myself. Then, you won't have anyone to use as a hostage."

The thugs stopped. "Lucky kid. He's got a smart mom." With a laugh they roughly grabbed Tsunami and began marching her towards the door.

Inari stood inside, tears streaming from his face. As he cried though, he remembered Kakashi's words.

* * *

 _**Flashback**_

" _Sasuke's family was killed before his eyes. Naruto never knew either of his parents. They've had pasts much rougher than yours, believe it or not. Yet, they both never cry. They both work hard. Naruto especially never lets what others say affect him keeping his path on his dream. They're probably sick of crying. Naruto probably understands your feelings better than most people. Sasuke understands wanting revenge too. They both probably care about you because you're a little like they were as kids."_

 _**End Flashback**_

* * *

Inari grit his teeth and moved to the kitchen and grabbed a pan. With it he ran outside chasing after the bandits till he found them. "Hey! Stop right there. Let my mom go!"

The bandits turned to see the shivering kid and laughed. "What a brave kid."

One of the thugs drew his sword. "I wanna cut him up."

Again Tsunami tried to interfere. "If you do-."

Before she could, the other thug, knocked her out. "Have at it."

The thug charged Inari and slashed at him, only to cut through a log instead of Inari. Inari felt himself safely set away from the thugs just a few feet from his initial position from the log safely in the hands of Naruto.

"What're you doing here?" He asked.

Naruto turned to him and grinned. "Boss left thirty of us just in case someone tried something. That was really brave of you kid."

The two bandits prepared to fight only to find themselves easily outnumbered and clearly out skilled.

The fight ended easily with both bandits being tied up and unconscious. The clones gently moved Tsunami inside before complementing Inari again and returning to guarding the house.

* * *

Naruto frowned as one of the clone's memories returned to him as he tried to dodge another wave of senbon. He wasn't as luck as his teammate who was having a great time dealing with the slow boy. Luckily, after noticing the Sharingan, Haku had turned to focus most of his attention on Sasuke, only lightly attacking the orange clad Genin.

As Haku rushed again, he suddenly found Sasuke in his face, a harsh kick sending him flying causing him to fall just outside his dome. The ice wielding ninja quickly stood and moved back into the mirrors. ' _Those eyes are a hassle. I did not wish to defeat him like this, but it seems I must.'_

Haku turned to Naruto and quickly flew from a mirror from behind him preparing to use the senbon to take the blonde's life.

Sasuke noticed the movement just a little too late and then quickly sprung in the way.

Naruto felt Sasuke's body thud against his back and felt something wet hit his neck. Naruto turned around quickly, just in time to catch Sasuke's collapsing body, 5 senbon sticking from his neck and other senbon scattered throughout his body.

Naruto stared at his teammate in shock holding him. "Why?"

Sasuke looked up at Naruto and wheezed coughing up blood. "I don't know. My body just sort of moved on its own."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, tears filling his eyes. "Damn it, Teme. You weren't supposed to die for me."

Sasuke just chuckled from his position. "Maybe that's true but it looks like I will. I need a favor. My brother killed my entire clan. I swore I would avenge them. If I can't, promise me you will."

Naruto nodded. "I promise."

"Thanks dobe." With those words, Sasuke closed his eyes and collapsed.

Haku looked at the fight sadly. "He was a brave shinobi. I am sorry for your loss."

Naruto growled at the other boy as he felt a strange feeling. Anger, rage, and bloodlust overwhelmed him as he looked up. Orange chakra seeped from him wrapping itself around him. "Shut up. I'm gonna kill you!"

Naruto roared suddenly, the chakra shattering the mirrors. Naruto charged the boy and punched him, sending him flying causing his mask to shatter.

Naruto charge again and pulled the boy up to punch his face in when he noticed who the boy was.

The chakra suddenly faded as Naruto exclaimed. "You're that guy from the woods!"

Haku nodded. "Indeed. I was picking herbs for Zabuza-sama."

"Why?" Naruto said suddenly. "After all that talk about precious people, you work for Zabuza?"

Haku coughed up a little blood. "He is my precious person. In the mist, during the years that it was the blood mist, people with Kekkei Genkai are hunted and killed."

* * *

** _Flashback**_

 _Haku sat outside one day playing in the snow, causing flakes of ice to from fingers when his mother saw him. She ran up and quickly reprimanded him, yelling at him to never do that again._

 _Some time passed, Haku heard the yelling between his parents. The next day, a mob broke into his house led by his father. The mob brutally murdered his mother, calling her a witch full of tainting blood. The mob turned on Haku who in his fear suddenly lost control. In an instant, the whole mob lay dead, full of spikes made of ice._

 _Haku let out a pained scream and quickly ran away._

 _Weeks later, he lay collapsed on the ground preparing to die. A tall man walked up to the child and looked down at him._

 _He kneeled and began to speak to the collapsed boy. "Do you want to live?"_

 _Haku looked up at Zabuza and nodded, too weak to speak._

" _Then serve me. Be my tool."_

 _**End Flashback**_

* * *

"Zabuza-sama saved my life. That's plenty for me to serve him."

Naruto grit his teeth. "I guess."

Haku looked up at Naruto. "Kill me Naruto."

"What?!" Naruto said shocked.

"I am not useful to Zabuza-sama any longer. I am a broken tool. My purpose for living is gone. I do not wish to live. Please."

Naruto nodded morbidly as he drew a kunai and aimed to kill Haku when suddenly, Haku interrupted the strike.

"Forgive me Naruto. There is still something I have left to do."

* * *

Asuma thrust at Zabuza, when suddenly Haku shunshined into his attack catching the thrust between his eyes, dying instantly.

Zabuza grinned and swung his blade, aiming to cut through both Haku and Asuma only for Asuma to jump away from the cut saving Haku's body too as Naruto ran up to the fighters. The mist was almost gone now.

Zabuza stood shakily and began to speak, "He was a good tool. Even at the end."

Naruto had just arrived at the scene and immediately yelled out at the Jonin. "Shut up! Don't call him that. The moron sacrificed himself for a loser like you and all you can say is that he's a good tool?"

Zabuza regarded Naruto. "You remind me of a foolish woman I once fought. The ninja world isn't about cupcakes and friendship. It's a world of death and despair. Get used to it."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "That's only because assholes like you are alive. I'll change that world and make it a better one."

Zabuza ignored the boy and prepared to fight when a voice carried out over the bridge.

"I knew you'd fail!" A short man surrounded by bandits.

"Gatou." Zabuza growled.

"Hah! Look at you! Demon of the Mist. More like Baby Demon." Gatou called. "I was planning to kill you after anyway, but now it's too easy."

Zabuza turned to Asuma and Kurenai. "It looks like my contract is void. Therefore, so is our contract." Zabuza turned towards Gatou and then began to walk in his direction.

He sped up quickly cutting through the bandits that stepped up to guard their boss. He ignored the spears that stabbed into him, the cuts from katana into his body and easily closed the distance between himself and the shipping tycoon.

"I'll show you who's a real demon now Gatou. I'll have all eternity to, in hell!" With those words, Zabuza cut through Gatou, splitting the man in half before collapsing.

* * *

Kisame and Kakashi stood facing off against each other. Kakashi was bleeding profusely from the sharkskin sword that had ripped into him repeatedly.

Kisame had his own share of cuts that Kakashi had inflicted. His left arm was bleeding from a strange lightning dragon technique Kakashi used to tear through the S rank ninja's arm.

The two stood facing off as they heard the conversation between Gatou and Zabuza. They saw the Demon of the Mist collapse but Kakashi kept his eyes focused on the sharklike man not daring to look away.

"Looks like our fight ends Kakashi of the Sharingan." Kisame said with a grin. "My contract is void. Another day perhaps. With those words, Kisame dove off the bridge, into the water and disappeared.

Kakashi turned and moved near Asuma and Kurenai.

"You look like hell Kakashi." Asuma said.

Kakashi eye smiled. "I feel like hell. I never got back up from you two so it was tough."

"Sorry. He wasn't quite as easy as we thought." Kurenai said.

The bandits on the other side now turned to the few ninja on the bridge. "Well, now I guess we'll have to raid the village to get our pay." The bandits began to advance when the other genin rejoined the Jonin and Naruto on the bridge.

An arrow also suddenly hit the bridge in front of the bandits. Villagers stood at the back of the bridge lead by Inari who was holding a small crossbow.

"We won't let you in our homes!" The crowd yelled forward as they advanced.

Naruto grinned. "I can help too!" He formed his hand seals and formed fifty shadow clones.

The bandits slowly began to retreat before turning and running, jumping back into their boats and rowing away.

"Yeah. That's what I thought." Naruto said.

* * *

As soon as the fight was over, however, Naruto turned and began to walk back towards where he'd been fighting Haku.

Sakura ran up to him. "Naruto, where's Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto gave Sakura a sad look and turned and looked at the location where, the mist slowly died down leaving a collapsed Sasuke in view.

The genin stopped shocked as they moved to approach the fallen body of their comrade. The Jonin joined their team.

"He died protecting me. I couldn't see the attack. It came from behind." Naruto said turning to Kakashi who placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sakura collapsed onto her knees near Sasuke and placed her head on him crying.

The other genin looked on sadly.

Suddenly, Sasuke spoke. "Sakura."

Naruto turned quickly to Sasuke and Sakura sat up suddenly.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"You're really heavy. That hurt."

Naruto burst out laughing as the Sakura pouted while crying tears of joy. "You're alive!"

Kakashi looked towards Haku's dead body. "False death state. Looks like he never meant to kill you Sasuke."

"We should give the two a proper burial. Then, let's rest up, finish the bridge, and head back to Konoha." Kurenai said looking towards the dead body of Haku as well.

* * *

The teams prepared to return to the village as the bridge was finally complete. The group prepared to return as the villagers said their final goodbyes to the ninja.

Inari was trying desperately not to cry after apologizing to Sasuke for his words who forgave him.

"It's okay to cry when you're happy!" Naruto told him laughing as the boy burst out in tears. "Don't worry. I'm sure Sasuke-teme'll miss you too!"

With those words, the ninja began their long walk back to the village.

Tazuna turned to his fellow villagers. "I have a name for the bridge."

Tsunami looked at the man. "What's that?"

Tazuna looked at the ninja. "The Great Konoha Bridge". The villagers cheered at the name and Tazuna grinned.

* * *

The walk back to the village was peaceful for the Konoha teams. For most of the trip, Kakashi read his little book. Sasuke played with his eyes asking Kakashi questions occasionally and occasionally speaking to Naruto about what he was learning. Sakura kept watching Sasuke as she and Ino had some kind of conversation. Hinata was being carried by Kurenai after she fainted when she saw Naruto shirtless that morning. Kiba conversed with Akamaru for the entire trip while Naruto spoke with Shikamaru and Choji or interestedly watched as Sasuke learned more and more about his eyes.

After returning to the village, the Jonin dismissed their students and moved to the Hokage's office to report their mission.

After hearing the report, Sarutobi nodded and promised the teams pay for an A rank mission given the difficulty of the mission especially for a rookie team. After having them fill a small report, he dismissed them. However, Kakashi remained behind.

"Do you need something Kakashi-kun?"

"Yes sir." Kakashi said standing straight. "On the bridge, there was a moment when Naruto lost control. He used some of the Kyuubi's chakra. I'm afraid that the seal may have loosened slightly. I felt it best to inform you."

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair. "Indeed. I also feel that it would be best for me to know anything regarding that seal. For it to loosen was always under our expectations given what the boy holds. I will have Jiraiya return to the village. I'm sure he would be more than happy to see Naruto again."

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

With the dismissal, Kakashi left, already planning the training for the next day for each of his students.

* * *

 **A.N: Alright guys. That's the chapter. I hope you enjoyed the conclusion to the wave arc and I hope you guys enjoyed the fights. They weren't quite as detailed as I would've loved to make them, but juggling each scene was fairly difficult for me. I'll save the detailed fights till the chunin exams and beyond I suppose. Perhaps in one of the few missions that will be coming up soon.**

 **Thanks so much for reading and please leave any critique or suggestions you have for me as a review! I'm always happy to hear what you guys have to say. Also, don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile if you're interested in pairings as that'll give me an idea of where to maneuver the story. I'll start incorporating that poll sometime during the chunin exam arc or after.  
**

 **Thanks again! Be safe and prosperous!**


	7. Return and training

**Author's Note: I AM SO SORRY FOR POSTING SO LATE! AAAH! I've been swamped with studying for the MCAT so I completely forgot that this even existed till I got an alert that someone favorited it. I'll work harder to post more often because you guys deserve that from me.**

 **I also want to address some reviews, which I am extremely grateful that you guys sent me.**

 **Like A Pro: Your guess was spot on. I won't type out her name since that's spoiling things. I will probably bring that up again so I don't want to give things away to those who don't know yet.**

 **Megachrisfan: Thanks! I can see why you feel Naruto's too smart too quickly. But, I think he was always bright. He just didn't have things to nurture that like he does now. I'll try to modify the pace a bit. I'll also work to incorporate the advice you gave me better too. As for why someone might announce their weapon's ability, that's just them being cocky. Which is what I wanted to portray.**

 **Kazenami Akito: Thanks!**

 **AscendedAbyss: I know that it's a bit disappointing that I didn't stray from the plot lines when I moved away from the canon. But, I do want to stick closer to canon because that's just the direction I want the story to take. I don't want plot points early on to change very much because I think it takes away from the story later. I also love Kishimoto's original take and just want to modify it a little to what I wish would've happened.**

 **Naruto (anonymous): He's using a few because there are drawbacks which he's trying to avoid.**

 **TinkaPrime: You're not a bother! Keep up the suggestions! I'll definitely incorporate more stuff that you recommended since they were A+ suggestions.**

 **Anyway, thanks everyone again for reading and your invaluable reviews. I'll get a pairings poll up and definitely post faster!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

"Hey" – **Normal people talking**

 _'_ _Hey' –_ **Normal people thinking**

 **"** **Hey" – Demons/Large Creatures talking**

 ** _'_** ** _Hey'_** **–** **Demons/Large Creatures thinking**

 ** _"_** ** _Hey" –_** **Inner Sakura**

* * *

 **The Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

The next day, the genin gathered at training ground 7 eager to see what their sensei would teach them following their first A rank mission which was also, ironically, their first non-D rank mission. The genin arrived early, promptly at 6 a.m. as Kakashi instructed, and began to wait for their teacher.

Naruto sat with his back to a tree, reading the book that the old Hokage had given him on fuinjutsu. Having mastered creating sealing scrolls, explosive tags, and silencing seals, Naruto was attempting to understand more complicated sealing theory in order to learn new seals. He wasn't having much trouble understanding the content, which was great but was struggling to figure out what kinds of seals would be the most beneficial to learn in the long run.

Sasuke was sitting nearby reading a scroll from his family's library on the Sharingan in order to understand it a little more. The scrolls could only be read by one who possessed the special eyes but even then were vague and provided hidden hints as to the use of the eyes. He was hoping that Kakashi would be able to help him more.

Sakura sat nearby and read her own book, though this one did not pertain to the ninja world at all. The title of this book was _Rokusho and Julie: A Ninja Love Story_. Occasionally the pinkette would glance up at Sasuke and blush.

In this manner two hours passed and the genin found themselves becoming impatient.

 _'_ _I should've known he'd be late.'_ Naruto thought. ' _I forgot he had this habit since he was so good about being on time earlier.'_

As the clock struck 8, however, Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of his students in a puff of smoke.

"Yo." He said holding his hand up in greeting.

Immediately Sakura sprung up pointing her finger at the scarecrow. "You're late!" She shrieked causing all three males to wince at the volume.

Kakashi eye-smiled. "I know. I'm sorry. I forgot to set my alarm last night."

The genin rolled their eyes at the lame excuse.

"What are we going to do today sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly, stretching a little to loosen his muscles before training began.

"Today, Naruto, we are going to evaluate this morning where each of you stands after the mission and then we will train based on that till lunch time."

Sasuke stood up and began to stretch as well. "How are you gonna evaluate us?"

Kakashi eye smiled. "With a quick spar against myself of course."

The genin sweat dropped a little before beginning to warm up.

"Who's going first?" Sakura asked.

"You are!" Kakashi said taking a few steps back. "Come at me with an intent to kill!"

* * *

Sakura sprung at Kakashi drawing a kunai and began to attack Kakashi with a few slashes and stabs to try and push her sensei back. However, Kakashi didn't step back to dodge the slashes as he usually did. Instead, he stepped into her guard cutting the slash off with a right knife-hand hooking block and then hammered into Sakura with two quick left vertical punches to her solar plexus that caused Sakura to bend over as the breath left her.

Ignoring the pain, Sakura threw a punch at Kakashi that the jonin dodged before stepping back.

As the white haired man stepped away, Sakura formed a fast set of seals and called out her jutsu.

"Earth Style: Flying Thrown Rocks" She called before firing five rocks the size of Kakashi's head at him before moving in, expecting the white haired man to dodge.

Again, however, she was surprised as Kakashi stepped into the attacks, swaying and bobbing like a boxer to avoid the attacks. Sakura tried to back pedal only to find that Kakashi hand quickly made his way into her guard. As she began to react, another two hard punches found their way into her solar plexus causing her fold over again.

Again, Sakura showed surprising resilience despite not breathing well and formed another group of hand seals. "Earth Style: Earth Wall"

A quick wall of hardened dirt sprung in front of Sakura as Kakashi punched at her. Sakura sighed and tried to catch her breath as the wall gave her a moment only to find that Kakashi easily scaled the wall and was sitting on top of it.

"Don't let your guard down Sakura. Here I come."

With those words, Kakashi was inside Sakura's guard again. He easily landed four more hits to her solar plexus before viciously landing two hook punches into her liver causing the pinkette to collapse, too exhausted and hurt to fight back.

Kakashi helped her up and moved her to the side, letting her lean against a tree.

"You need to focus on guarding more Sakura." He said as Sakura tried to catch her reach. "You have to expect reactions contrary to what you want and prepare for it. We'll work on your defense a bit since that's crucial to all medical ninja and that's the route that we've begun you on."

Sakura gave a pained nod as Kakashi turned to Sasuke.

"Your turn Sasuke. Let's see what you've got now that you have the sharingan. I'll be hitting you in the tradition of the Uchiha so you'd better not hold back."

Sasuke nodded and quickly prepared, activating his sharingan.

"Hajime!" Kakashi announced and Sasuke immediately began to form hand seals. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball!"

He blew a large ball of fire towards Kakashi who easily dodged the fireball only to find Sasuke moving. Kakashi began to throw punches at Sasuke who easily predicted their movement and began to dodge.

Suddenly, though, Kakashi's punches began to connect despite Sasuke seeing the attacks coming. One punch caught Sasuke in the nose which caused the boy to stumble. As soon as he began to stumble, he quickly found himself unable to block any longer and Kakashi ruthlessly began his attack on the Uchiha.

Sasuke found himself being pushed back as Kakashi's punches pounded his face in multiple directions before a harsh knee slammed into his gut. Before he had time to recover, an upper cut forced him upright. With that, Kakashi simply pushed Sasuke over, causing the tired boy to collapse.

"Did you find out the weakness of the Sharingan, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked smiling down at the aching boy.

"It doesn't matter if I see an attack coming if it's faster than me." Sasuke groaned as he tried to collect himself.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. You're too slow. We'll work on that. You also need to vary your technique. You used one jutsu and it wasn't much use at all."

Kakashi waited for Sasuke to move away before turning to Naruto.

"Yeah. Yeah. My turn. I get it." Naruto said. He stood and stretched a bit and then moved to stand across from Kakashi.

"Hajime!" As soon as Kakashi's call finished, Naruto charged forward towards the silver haired jonin. As he did, he drew a kunai which he threw at Kakashi's head before kicking sharply towards the Jonin's knee.

Kakashi easily caught the kunai that Naruto'd hurled at him before using the flat of the kunai to smack Naruto's face before the kick landed. As the blond stumbled from the sudden hit, Kakashi took a step back and quietly observed.

' _He's developed a lot. His capacity for decision making has increased. He's become a fairly decent taijutsu fighter for a genin. Let's push his limits though.'_

Naruto made 4 shadow clones and began to rush towards Kakashi with them, deciding to use the numbers to his advantage. Unfortunately for him, before they could do much, Kakashi popped them with fast precise hits. Then, Kakashi engaged the original Naruto attacking so that Naruto had no choice but to rely solely on taijutsu.

As Kakashi attacked, Naruto decided to do the same and mix in attacks with the defense that he was forced to put up against the jonin's taijutsu. However, each attack he tried was quickly shut down before he could even begin it, and none of his blocks seemed effective as Kakashi easily found his openings and pressed them. Quickly, Naruto found himself on the ground, his entire body aching.

"Learn anything Naruto?" Kakashi said smiling from above him as the orange-clad genin groaned as bruises began to spring up all over his body.

"Yeah. You're really good at taijutsu." Naruto said slowly sitting up.

Kakashi rolled his single eye. "Yes. I am a jonin. What else?"

Naruto thought for a moment before continuing. "I don't really have a style of taijutsu still. I'm pretty good at fighting, but you knew when I was going to attack and how. More than that, you always saw my openings and I couldn't really guard them."

Kakashi nodded as the blond boy explained. "Exactly. Part of that is just that I have much more experience than you in combat. But, most of that is your lack of a particular style. You also still need more variety in your arsenal but building for you a strong taijutsu based foundation will set you up to more effectively use ninjutsu and whatever else."

Naruto nodded and sat up, his bruises healing surprisingly quickly. "So, I should find a style and learn it?"

"No. I've been looking for a teacher for you. I think he'll be the best person to teach you taijutsu. Anyway, let's start training today with some chakra control. Walk up and down a tree once and then run 10 laps around the lake."

* * *

After the simple chakra control drill, Kakashi had the genin split up and work on elemental manipulation. First, he had Sasuke work to keep a leaf from burning by using his fire chakra to only allow the center of the leaf to catch fire. As the Uchiha began his training, Kakashi moved to Sakura whom he had work on manipulating a rock by having it move around in zigzags using her chakra. He didn't really need to give instructions to Naruto, who was still focused on getting any kind of a cut into his rock.

This exercise continued till lunch, by which point only Sakura had success with her training, thanks to her excellent chakra control.

"So, where to for lunch today?" Kakashi asked as the genin sat in the shade around him. The weather was warmer than usual for a typical Konoha day and they were really feeling it. Naruto had abandoned his orange jacket in favor of just the pants and a shirt. Sakura fanned herself with a small paper fan that she'd been carrying and even Sasuke struggled to maintain his collected demeanor.

"Ramen!" Naruto jumped up excitedly.

"Ew! No way Naruto-Baka! It's way too hot for Ramen!" Sakura shrieked pointing a finger at the boy.

"It's never too hot for Ramen Sakura! Ramen is the gift of the Gods!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Well that's one for ramen and one against. Sasuke?"

"Hn. (I don't want Ramen. It's way too hot. Something cold would be really nice. How about cold Somen?)"

"That's an excellent idea! Somen sounds wonderful. How about that Sakura, Naruto?"

Naruto gave his "how the hell do you understand that" look to Kakashi before shrugging. "That sounds good actually."

"If that's what Sasuke-kun wants, I'm all for it!" The pinkette yelled excitedly causing the brooding genin to sweat drop.

"Great! We can discuss what's next there!" Kakashi said as he began to walk with the genin.

* * *

As the team ate their cold noodles, Kakashi began to explain how the next phase of training would take place.

"After this, we're going to be splitting up. Sasuke and Sakura, the two of you are going to be with me. I'm going to work with both of you. Sasuke, we're going to work on your speed and Sakura, we'll work on some jutsu so that you can have more impact in a fight."

"What about me, Sensei?!" Naruto asked, frowning that he was being separated from his team.

"Naruto, for the next two week, you will be training with another instructor and his team, Team Nine. Team Nine's sensei is the village's best taijutsu specialist and he'll be best suited to train you."

Naruto nodded excitedly. "So he's going to teach me a style?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Gai's style is too different for you and he's already got a student to whom he's taught it. It would be silly for you to have a style that's famous. Instead, we agreed that it would be best for you to develop a style that works for you with the shadow clones."

Naruto nodded excitedly. "Awesome! After that, I'll be for sure the strongest member of the team."

"You wish, dobe." Sasuke said. "I'm not letting you get ahead. You'll just have to settle with being second."

Kakashi eye smiled at the interaction before continuing. "Unfortunately for you, Naruto, that also means you have a reputation to maintain."

Naruto turned to his sensei. "A reputation?"

"Yep! You have to actually dress like a real ninja!"

Naruto groaned. "Does that mean shopping?"

"Absolutely! Go to this store and buy real clothes. And more equipment." Kakashi said handing Naruto a piece of paper.

Naruto nodded, grabbing the paper and stood. "I'll head there then. Where am I supposed to meet this, Gai-sensei?"

"Once you've changed. Head over to Training ground 9. He'll be expecting you. I have to warn you. He's a bit, um, eccentric. I'll be checking in from time to time so don't slack off either."

Naruto nodded before quickly finishing his meal and then leaving, excited to train more.

* * *

Naruto approached the address that Kakashi'd given him to see a strange shop, with a large weapon's display and full of clothing, ninja equipment, and books. He stepped inside and began to look around. As he did, he heard a gruff voice behind him.

"Can I help you kid?"

Naruto yelped, with surprise, as he turned to see a tall, muscular man with a large beard. The man's massive arms were covered in scars and electric blue eyes peered out from behind his soot covered face.

"M, my name's Uzumaki Naruto! Kakashi-sensei sent me here to buy clothes."

The gruff, bearded man looked Naruto up and down once before responding. "I can see why. What kind of a ninja wears all orange?"

"There's nothing wrong with orange! It's the best color in the world!" Naruto yelled.

"Whatever kid, my name is Fujimura Toshiro and I make weapons and sell ninja equipment. Let me know when you find what you're looking for and if you need anything."

Naruto nodded before looking for clothes. Eventually, he settled on a simple black shirt that was fairly tight fitting with the Uzumaki swirl on the back with the Konoha symbol in orange on the front, a pair of black pants similar to those worn by Kakashi and decided to swap his blue ninja sandals for black ones.

After buying and changing into the clothing, as well as some more kunai, Naruto headed out towards Training Ground 9.

 _'_ _Gotta admit. Kakashi sensei was right. I do look a bit cooler now._ '

* * *

As Naruto arrived at Training ground 9, he was greeted by a strange sight. A green spandex clad jonin appeared to be hugging a clone of himself as they both cried. Suddenly, as Naruto got even closer, the grass and trees around him seemed to disappear to be totally replaced by a sunset and a beach. ' _What the hell? It's supposed to be around noon!'_

Naruto noticed two other genin standing nearby who turned to him questioningly. One was a girl with brown hair pulled into two buns wearing a pink Chinese style top with green pants. The other was a pale guy with long hair that was in a pony-tail and eyes that gave his family away.

"Um. Hi. I was supposed to be meeting a Gai-sensei here. But, I think I'm in the wrong place."

The girl shook her head. "No. You're in the right place. That's Gai sensei." She pointed to one of the hugging men, the jonin in the spandex with a bowl cut who by this point had stopped hugging his student to turn to Naruto.

' _Holy shit! Those are massive eyebrows! On both of them! What the hell?'_ Naruto thought as the man addressed him.

"Ah! You must be Naruto-kun! I am the fierce Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai and your sensei's proud rival!"

Naruto winced at the volume before picking up on the word rival. "Rival?"

Gai nodded. "Indeed! We have had competitions from a very young age! Currently, our score is 49 to 48 with me in the lead!"

Naruto's face betrayed his shock. ' _This guy must be impressive to be stronger than Kakashi-sensei. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover."_

Gai continued. "I see you have met TenTen and Neji. This young man is Rock Lee!"

The Gai clone, now known to Naruto as Rock Lee, sprung forward. "IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU NARUTO-SAN! I shall strive to be a great training partner for you!"

Naruto winced again at the volume before responding. "Nice to meet you too."

"I assume Kakashi explained to you the purpose of your coming to train with me?" Gai asked Naruto.

"Yeah. My taijutsu is weak, so he thinks it would be good for me to formulate my own style."

"Indeed! I will be instructing you in this, but I cannot neglect my own students. So, we will train early in the mornings from 5 untill 8 and then late at night from 9 until midnight! We will begin tomorrow!"

"Hai sensei!" Naruto responded understanding the man's decision.

* * *

 **A.N. That's a wrap. Again, I really apologize for the shortness of this chapter and for the delay in updating. I'll work hard to post more often! Thank you guys, for reading! I hope you'll leave me reviews to lemme know what you think I should do!**

 **As an additional note, I think I'm gonna have one small arc of sorts or no arcs before diving into the chunin exams because I'm personally really excited about them. Probably the one small arc but I'll appreciate any input on that.**

 **As always, stay safe and prosper.**


	8. Training with Gai!

**A.N. You guys rock! Thank you so much for your reviews, messages, and support. It really does make me want to write more. I decided that I'll do one short "arc" before we head into the chunin exams. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I only own Naruto in my dreams.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People talking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal People thinking**

 **"** **Hey" – Demons/Large creatures talking**

 **'** ** _Hey'_** **– Demons/Large creatures thinking**

 ** _"_** ** _Hey"_** **–** **Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **The Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Naruto woke up the next morning to the harsh blaring noises that were typical of his alarm clock. He pounded the alarm to turn it off and then stood up and looked at the time.

"Four o'clock. Great. One hour before training."

The blond boy stood up and made his way groggily into the kitchen to make a breakfast of eggs, sunny side up for today. As he cooked his eggs, he prepared two slices of toast for himself and a cup of milk. Kakashi would probably have told him to also eat some kind of fruit or vegetable, but Naruto decided that this was plenty. He quickly ate his breakfast, took a shower, and then jumped out of his window to make his way towards Training Ground 9.

' _I wonder what Gai-sensei is gonna train me in.'_

* * *

Naruto landed in the training ground and as he moved to where he'd found the team the day before, he removed a book from his pouch to read, expecting Gai to have not yet arrived.

' _It's only 4:40. He's probably not here yet, so I'll have a few moments to read.'_

He was surprised though, to find as he arrived that Gai was already present, with the copy of him with him. Both Gai and Lee appeared to be doing push-ups using just three fingers.

As Gai noticed Naruto's arrival, he sprung up and excitedly greeted him. "Hello Naruto-kun! GOOD MORNING! I am glad to see that you have not adapted Kakashi's habit of being late and instead arrive early! It is most youthful of you!"

Naruto winced a bit at the loudness, especially given how early in the day it was. "Good morning, Gai-sensei. Is Lee joining us for training?"

Gai nodded. "Indeed. Normally, Lee and I train at this hour together to make up for Lee's weaknesses. However, since I am training you, Lee will join and serve as a partner to test yourself against."

Naruto nodded. "Great! So, what are we going to do?"

Gai gave Naruto a thumbs up. "Yosh! First, we will start with a mild spar so that I can see where you stand. Then, today will likely be spent deciding how to best create your style and what traits to work on. After hour four hours of training for now, you will join your own team for missions and we will meet again tonight."

"Hai sensei" Naruto responded as he began to stretch to warm up his muscles to prepare for the spar.

* * *

Naruto faced Gai as their spar began trying to decide how best to attack the man.

"Use your jutsu and everything at your disposal Naruto-kun! It will give me an idea of how to build your style to utilize those things!" Gai called.

Naruto nodded before quickly making 3 clones. He and the three clones charged towards Gai. The first clone jumped and threw a roundhouse kick at Gai's head as the other two clones closed into Gai with punches aimed at his ribs. The original Naruto moved straight forward to punch him in the gut.

Before any of the hits could land though, Gai moved in a flash. He grabbed the leg of the airborne clone and pulled it downward into the original Naruto. As the blond fell back with the weight of his clone on him, Gai easily kicked the clones moving to his left side and simultaneously punched the clone moving to his right.

Naruto stood and absorbed what he learned from his clones. Airborne attacks were useless and turned against him. And Gai could easily deal with the two damage dealers. ' _I should try with more numbers and grounded attacks.'_

Naruto made 9 more clones and with them he charged. The clones and he launched a flurry of attacks towards Gai trying to combo attacks of 3 or more at a time.

Unfortunately for the genin, Gai countered the attacks easily, blocking most of the combos and landing quick clear strikes during openings that Naruto showed. Soon, Naruto found himself alone.

"Not too bad, Naruto-kun." Gai called. "Now, let's test your defense."

With those words, Naruto suddenly found himself pressed back. Gai was constantly in his face and even as Naruto tried to block the hits from Gai, the attacks pressed into him. A punch that looked like it was aimed for Naruto's face would collide with his ribs. A kick that started low quickly made contact with his head.

' _Gai-sensei hits faster than Kakashi-sensei and a lot harder. I need to make distance.'_ Naruto thought as he pulled away trying to create room. This plan too failed as Naruto found himself pushed with his back to a tree and more hits began to rain down.

Suddenly, Gai stopped his flurry of attacks and pulled away leaving Naruto to extract himself from the tree, which now had a deep impression of his body smashed into it.

"That's enough, Naruto-kun. I have a good idea as to your taijutsu ability."

"Ow. What is it with you and Kakashi-sensei beating me up?" Naruto said as he nursed his wounds, both physical and on his ego.

Gai laughed at the statement before sitting down. "I'm sure you noticed there was a big difference. But, I would like Lee to analyze the difference rather than me just telling you."

Naruto sat down across from the jonin as Lee also sat with them. "Hai sensei. I will be happy to try to explain to Naruto-san what I noticed. Naruto-san, you have really good attacks from what I saw, but you have a lot of openings. You go for big strikes rather than hits that are sure to strike. You should work on keeping your attacks small and precise as well as keeping your guard tight. The same problem occurred with your defense. You have openings and fall for feints. Instead of retreating, perhaps push into your opponent. Finally, I think you are too slow for taijutsu fights right now. I suggest working more on your speed."

With the critique, Lee turned to Gai waiting for approval or disapproval.

"Well done Lee! I am very proud. What Lee says is true, Naruto-kun! You have too many openings and lack much of the speed needed to keep up with opponents. So, let us expound on a style. How do you want to fight? Would you prefer to have a strong defense, a strong offense, a mix of both?"

Naruto ran his fingers through his hair as he pondered the question. "I think I like offense more than defense but I shouldn't take too many hits because that might affect how I can help my team."

Gai nodded. "Then, you will have to improve on your speed, precision of your attacks, and a little of your defense. We will work on that. Your clones are effective tools. So, a style that allows you to work well with teammates, your clones or others, will allow you to fight in most scenarios. Kakashi tells me you have a wind element?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I'm not very good with it yet though. I'm working on my rock cutting exercise."

"Then, we will incorporate moments where you can modify the style should you need to switch from close to mid-range. Kakashi also told me you wish to learn Fuinjutsu. We'll need to have chances for you to use that as you want too."

Naruto nodded again and then asked the question that'd been burning in his mind ever since he was told to develop a style. "So, how're we going to do that?"

"First, we improve your speed and precision. We'll make your strikes fast and aimed at weak points on your opponent. Then, we'll have you make the hits devastating with strength. If your opponent can't hit you, you won't need much defense. Then, we'll build up defense as you hit."

Naruto stood up excitedly. "So, the first step is speed? How can I train in that?"

Gai pointed to Lee's orange leg warmers. "Show him please, Lee."

Lee lifted the leg warmers to hold up weights. Taking one off, he passed it to Naruto. As Naruto grabbed the weight though, he quickly collapsed as the weight formed a small crater in the ground.

"These are crazy heavy!" Naruto said as he struggled to pick it up. Lee took the weights from Naruto and easily returned them to their place on his leg.

"Indeed. The weights are the key to Lee and my own speed. However, we won't start you with something so heavy. Let's have you wear 10 pound weights on your legs, and 5 pound ones on your legs. As you become better with those, we'll adjust them. Go buy weights that you can adjust as that will be effective in training you."

Naruto nodded. "Is that all we're doing for today?"

Gai shook his head and stood up. "I do not believe in wasting any training time. Since we have another hour and a half. Let us work on your speed of reaction and your ability to perceive speed. I will attack you and you should work on blocking all of my attacks."

* * *

Naruto walked to Training Ground 7 to meet his team after his training session, battered and bruised. The aches on his body went away fairly quickly, but he was surprisingly tired considering it was only nine o'clock.

As he arrived he noticed that his teammates seemed to be in a similar condition to him, worn out and tired already. _'I guess Kakashi-sensei's being just as hard on them as Gai-sensei's being on me.'_

"Hey guys!" Naruto called to his teammates, who seemed to be resting.

"Naruto! Why are you here?" Sakura asked surprised by the blond's appearance.

 **"** **Cha! Just as we were getting some relaxing alone time with our Sasuke-kun!"**

"I'm supposed to join you guys for missions every day." Naruto replied chirpily. "You guys look like you went through some pretty rough training."

"Hn." Sasuke said, stopping his brooding for just a sec. "I hope you haven't been slacking off."

"No way, teme! I'm gonna be so much better at the end of this that you won't stand a chance against me!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, Kakashi sensei should be back in a few minutes. I think we're sticking to D rank missions today."

Almost as if Sakura's words were a que, Kakashi dropped out of a tree landing by the three genin, sparking a startled yell from Naruto and Sakura.

"Correct Sakura! We're going to just do a few D rank missions and then get back to training."

"DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at their teacher pointing a finger.

"It was just training for alertness." Kakashi said waving them off. "Now, our missions for today are weeding a garden, painting a fence, and fixing a roof. Let's finish them quickly so we'll have time for lunch."

* * *

As the team walked towards the Akimichi Barbeque House after finishing their lunch, Naruto turned to Kakashi to explain what he'd learned from Gai, as Sasuke and Sakura seemed to converse about the morning's training. He explained the decision to work on speed first and that he had to get weights.

Kakashi nodded. "Gai's method is old school but effective. Increasing the weight your body has to support will also improve your strength and power."

Naruto nodded. "I guess. I just would've preferred not to spend the money to buy weights. Y'know?"

"How far along is your fuinjutsu?" Kakashi asked turning to Naruto as they entered the restaurant.

"I haven't really done much else after learning how to make sealing scrolls and explosive tags. I've got a set of sealing ink and some paper with me almost always just in case though." Naruto responded pointing to his pouch.

"Well, I can show you the basics of drawing a gravity seal. There's two kinds of them. One will be for your whole body and one for just certain limbs. You can increase gravity on your limbs by however much you want by painting the seal onto your body. Then, just remove the seal to remove the "weights" or decrease the chakra in the seal." Kakashi said sitting down and removing a piece of paper and some ink of his own. "After lunch, you can try applying the seal with me there to supervise and then I suggest heading back and getting some rest. Gai's gonna run you like a mad man tonight."

"Sounds great sensei! Thanks!"

* * *

As night fell, Naruto once again left early to head towards Training Ground 9, moving slower than before as he adjusted to the weights on his ankles and wrists.

Kakashi's explanation of the seals that he now had were straight forward, and Naruto hadn't had much difficulty applying the seal, though using his left hand to draw it onto his right one had been a bit hard. The heaviness however, did affect his ability to move like he wanted. Something he was sure Gai would address.

As he arrived at the training ground, he found only Gai there, much to his surprise.

"Lee's not joining us?"

Gai looked up. "Ah! Naruto-kun! Welcome back! No. Lee's trained enough for one day and it would not be best for him to see all your training and tricks just as you don't see all of his. The nights will be just our training. Come sit."

Naruto moved to sit across from the green-clad jonin. "So, what now sensei?"

"Were you successful in obtaining weights?"

"I didn't get weights. Instead, Kakashi-sensei helped me put on Gravity seals of the same amount."

Gai reached forward to examine the seals. "These will do well. It was a good idea to use these since they allow you to practice another skill of yours. Since you have these, your task for today will be to run through every street in Konoha."

Naruto gave the jonin a dumbfounded look. "Every street in Konoha?"

"Yes! As fast as you possibly can. Sprint through the streets! This will build your stamina, speed, and get your muscles more acclimated to the weights. Do your best to do that. After, an hour has passed, if you have not finished running through every street, sprint back here."

"Hai sensei." Naruto stood and took off.

* * *

An hour later, Naruto returned to the training ground to find Gai doing one handed push-ups with two fingers.

"Well, Naruto-kun, how was the run?" Gai asked looking up at the blond genin who was dripping sweat and panting a bit.

"I didn't get every street. Not even close." Naruto said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I did not expect you too on your first day. Even Lee cannot accomplish such a task yet. Now, let's work on simple basics. Let's have you do 300 jabs – straight combinations. I will demonstrate how."

Naruto copied Gai's stance and for the rest of the night, the pair focused on the two punches and motion.

* * *

Gai and Naruto continued training in this manner for the next two weeks. Naruto's fast healing mechanism meant that his muscles quickly adjusted to the weights on him. As a result, he easily progressed in the amount of weight on his body and Gai had Naruto apply the gravity seal to his entire body to increase the amount of pressure under which he moved.

Every morning, without weights on, Naruto sparred Rock Lee who also did not use weights. The older genin easily crushed Naruto repeatedly the first few times, but by the end of the two week period, Naruto was slowly able to hold his own against the boy. After the spars, Naruto would train on his speed, offensive technique, or his defense specifically against either Lee or Gai.

At night, Gai and Naruto worked together to incorporate different techniques together, build katas, and create the style for Naruto. The style would be tested with short sparring sessions to find weaknesses as they developed but overall not many changes were made. Gai told Naruto once that the model that he used for the style was one in a scroll he had titled "The Hummingbird Style" which relied on precise fast techniques to weak points. This style was then modified to incorporate jutsu and teamwork with shadow clones as well as more powerful attacks. And with this training, Naruto's two week period under Gai came to a close.

"You've improved quite a bit Naruto-kun and have been a very youthful student!" Gai said as they finished the last training session around midnight. "Though it is unfortunate that you never accepted the tights. You would have improved so much more.

"Thanks Gai-sensei! I really appreciate it but I think I improved plenty. Besides Kakashi-sensei said I had to maintain the image of his team so I can't wear those."

Gai sighed. "That is highly unfortunate. But, your taijutsu skill has reached a level that could be classified as that of a mid to low chunin. What you lack now is experience which you will earn over time. Your style is solid in foundation and will improve as you use it."

"Thanks sensei! I appreciate the help!" Naruto said. "I'll work hard to show you how much better I've gotten."

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke up later than usual, now that his training with Gai was done and headed to Training Ground 7. Though, he'd seen his teammates almost every day for the two week period, he knew little about their training and was excited to resume training with them.

As he arrived at the training ground, he found Sakura and Sasuke already there. Sasuke was brooding, which wasn't unusual. The unusual thing was Sakura, who instead of pestering Sasuke seemed to be reading a book.

"Whatcha got there Sakura?"

Sakura looked up from her book, her eyes wide. "Naruto! I forgot you'd be back starting today."

Naruto pouted a bit. "I can't believe you forgot about me Sakura. That hurts."

Sakura just rolled her eyes. "I'm reading a book Kakashi-sensei gave me on the basics of medicine in the field."

"Sounds cool. Do you guys know what we're doing today?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope."

Sasuke looked up. "I hope it's a better mission than a D rank one." Another change over the two week period. Sasuke seemed to have realized only Kakashi understood his grunts. So, every once in a while, he'd use actual sentences to communicate.

"And that's what it's going to be!" Kakashi said, appearing in a swirl of leaves. "I don't know if you guys realized, but as Naruto pointed out before the Zabuza mission, we're required to have 25 D rank missions to take on a C rank mission. We've completed 48 D rank missions."

"Yatta!" Naruto yelled, jumping. "We get to kick some ass!"

Kakashi chuckled at the excitement. "Well, maybe. Most C rank missions mean that we mostly just deal with bandits or something similar. Let's head over to the Hokage's office."

* * *

The Team arrived in the Hokage's office and was ushered into the room where team assignments were handled.

The elderly Hokage sat with a pipe in mouth with Iruka at his side, shuffling through some paper work.

"Ah. Team Seven. Come in. What kind of a mission are we here for? Another D rank or perhaps now that you're sitting at 48 missions, we're hoping for a C rank one?" the Hokage asked leaning forward.

"Definitely a C rank one Hokage-sama. I think my team is more than ready." Kakashi said.

The Hokage nodded. "Understandably. However, let's keep things simple for now. Your last mission was much higher in ranking. I think a simple C rank should be plenty. We've had news of bandits plaguing a village to the south-east. Go to the village, get information, and if there are no shinobi involved, kill them."

Kakashi nodded, accepting the mission information scroll that the Hokage handed him. "Then, you don't want us to engage any ninja we face?"

"No. If ninja are present, return to the village and we will assign a higher rank mission to a fitting team."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll be off then."

As they left the room, Kakashi turned to his team. "Take an hour to get whatever you need. Then, meet me by the eastern gate. We'll leave from there."

"Hai." The three genin took off quickly to get supplies, excited for their first C rank since the mission to the waves.

* * *

 **A.N. Okay! So, that's the chapter. Next chapter will be the C rank mission and then we'll move into the chunin exam arc. I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter. I hope to see your comments and reviews! Thanks again for your support guys! I should have the poll up on my profile, so please be sure to vote for the pairings there so I get an idea of what people want. Even if you've voted, go vote again. I put up a new poll since it's been forever. Thanks!  
**


	9. C Rank Mission 1: Bandit hunting

**A.N. A C RANK MISSION! Woo! This mission/chapter, I'm hoping will give you guys some insight into changes in character for certain members of the Team and develop the characters a bit more. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People speaking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal people thinking**

 **"Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

 **'** ** _Hey'_** **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

 **"** ** _Hey"_** **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Naruto woke up early the next morning and quickly busied himself in preparing for the mission. He'd gone shopping the day before to get supplies like food (ramen), extra kunai and shuriken, and extra sealing equipment. He decided to make a proper breakfast of cereal, toast, and orange juice before heading out towards the eastern gate, excited to head off for a mission.

* * *

Naruto arrived at the gate just as Sasuke and Sakura arrived. "Hi guys! Excited?"

"Hn." Sasuke said as he stood with his back to a nearby light pole.

"Naruto-baka. It's too early in the day for you to be so loud!" Sakura screeched causing multiple nearby people to wince.

"Hypocrite." Naruto muttered under his breath as he rubbed his ear.

"What'd you say?!" Sakura screeched again, causing more winces.

"Nothing." Naruto said, shooting a pleading look at Sasuke.

"That's what I thought. Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruto looked around a bit and then shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess he isn't here yet."

"That's weird. He did tell us to meet here in the morning right? It's 8:15. Do you remember him saying anything else Sasuke-kun?"

"No." Sasuke said quickly so he could get back to imagining how he'd torture Itachi.

* * *

-11:59-

Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves in front of the genin squad. "Good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled pointing at him.

Kakashi held up his hand. "Well, you see, I was on my way but a black cat crossed my path. But, when I tried to take the long way to get here, I accidentally walked under a ladder. So, to ward of my bad luck, I had to go find a 4 leaf clover. But, then a ninja attacked me when I was trying to come back with the leaf so I had to fight him off. Then, naturally, I had to take the long way around just in case." Kakashi held up a four leaf clover. "See?"

"LIAR!" The two louder genin yelled.

"I can't believe you're late to the first C rank mission we've had in forever." Naruto said shaking his head.

"Well, anyway, let's get going." Kakashi said pointing out the door.

"Hn. (We could've left earlier if you'd have showed up earlier. And, are we going to eat lunch?)" Sasuke grunted.

"We won't stop for lunch. I assume you guys packed something you can eat while walking." Kakashi said turning.

"Hn. (Yeah)"

* * *

The team conversed throughout their walk to the village that they were sent to. Naruto asked tons of questions to Kakashi about the village but received only vague answers. The village had no official name according to the scarecrow jonin, and served mostly as a small farm village on the outskirts of the Fire Nation. Bandits affecting farm villages though, meant fewer food sources for the Fire Nation as a whole.

As the sun began to set, the team reached the village, which was extraordinarily quiet. As the team walked into the town, people rushed in doors, and locked their doors and windows. The team walked towards the village's largest cabin where a fat man was standing holding a pitch fork.

"Who are you? What do you people want?" Naruto observed the fat man and noticed that he was relatively very plain looking. He had brown hair and was of a medium height. There wasn't anything remarkable about him.

Kakashi stepped forward. "We're Team 7, sent by Konoha, to help you with your bandit problem."

The fat man relaxed. "Oh! Thank goodness, you're here shinobi-san. Please, come in."

The man, who introduced himself as Takamura Shino, was the mayor of the village. He told the team about the group of bandits who'd been plaguing the village. They insisted that the village send 70% of all of its crops to the bandits as well as a young female every month. This ransom, the mayor said, was the only thing keeping the village from being burned down.

Kakashi sat quietly, contemplating the scenario while his genin fumed hearing about the awful actions of the bandits.

"Do the bandits have any ninja?" Kakashi said looking up suddenly.

The mayor shook his head. "No. They seem to be just ordinary bandits. That's why I only asked for a C rank mission."

Kakashi stood up and stretched. "When's the next time you have to pay this, uh, tax?"

The mayor rubbed his head and frowned. "The day will be day after tomorrow."

' _Perfect.'_ Kakashi thought. "Then, Takamura-san, please have a dress that would fit Sakura here sent to us. She'll be the girl for next week."

Sakura turned surprised to her sensei. "What?!"

Kakashi held up a hand. "Instead of sending one of the village girls, we'll send you. Then, you'll start by distracting them, we'll move in."

Sakura started to nod when Naruto interrupted. "Hold on sensei. I don't think that's a good idea."

Kakashi turned surprised to Naruto. "Really? What makes you think that?"

"If the bandits came to the village before they'd remember a girl with bright pink hair. Sakura-chan would be suspicious. Let me use a Henge to turn into one of the village girls and break in. I'll distract them and then you guys can come in."

Kakashi rubbed his chin. "That's a fair point. All right. Mayor, please have whomever you were going to send tomorrow sent here so that Naruto can see who he should transform into."

The man nodded and bustled off.

"Naruto, be very careful when you go in. We're going off the basis that there's no ninja, but for all we know, they just got a new one."

Naruto shot Kakashi a thumbs up and smiled. "You got it sensei."

The team ate a humble dinner that was provided by the mayor to the team and then headed to bed, in preparation for the next two days.

* * *

The next day, the team spent preparing for the bandit encounter. Naruto spent the day making extra supplies like extra explosive tags and sealing tools. He also spent having his clones scout out the area that the bandits were supposed to be.

Sakura spent the day practicing her earth style jutsu that Kakashi'd covered with her during the two week period prior. She had learned the jutsu as a defensive technique which would suit her style as a defensive support.

Sasuke continued to practice using his eyes and practiced controlling his fire chakra more with the hopes of improving his fire style techniques. Kakashi had also given him a leaf with the command to cause it to crumple but Sasuke found little success with that training.

Kakashi was doing the same thing as Naruto's clone, though he specifically observed the bandits looking for any ninja that might be present.

* * *

Naruto woke up early in the morning. _'Well. Time to pretend to be a girl.'_ He thought before moving to wake up Sasuke. "Teme. Wake up. Today's the day. We have an hour before the mission starts."

Sasuke sat up wordlessly and nodded. "Get ready."

Naruto henged into the girl that he was supposed to disguise himself as and Sasuke tied his wrists together in front of him. The two moved outside where Kakashi greeted them and had Naruto join the carts of crop. Sakura handed Naruto a small razor that he placed between his wrists to hold it there, careful not to cut himself.

With that, Naruto was taken with the crops to the entrance of a cave nearby and told to wait.

As soon as the people left, a bandit came out. He stood about 5' 7" with a sword strapped to his back. A long jagged scar went down the right side of his face.

"Well. Looks like the villagers sent us their tax. My men were starting to get a bit bored. OH! And they sent a cutie this time. Good!"

With a bitter laugh, the man had some other bandits come and grab the crop.

Turning as he marched the disguised Naruto in, he pointed to another bandit sitting nearby. "You there. Hiro! Take this cutie down to the prison with the other girls."

Hiro, a slightly smaller man with darker hair and a stupid look on his face, stood up and stumbled over. "Sure thing boss". He grabbed Naruto by the arm and pushed him towards one of the tunnels that seemed to move downwards.

As they moved down the tunnel and out of sight of the other bandits, Naruto decided to distract the man.

"So, why did you people need a girl to be brought up if you've got the other ones?"

The bandit marching Naruto laughed. "Who doesn't like a new toy even after you've got old ones to play with?"

Naruto hid a growl as he quietly used the razor to saw into the ropes and thought back to the night before.

* * *

* ** _Flashback_** *

 _"Remember Naruto. If you face any of the bandits and you're making your move, you need to kill them. Not just knock them out." Kakashi said facing Naruto, unusually stern with a serious look in his eye. "Our mission is to eliminate the bandits. We can take the leader alive, but the rest need to be killed so they can't try this kind of thing again."_

 _Naruto nodded, solemnly. "Okay sensei. I won't hold back then."_

* **End Flashback***

* * *

 _'Well, at least I won't feel as bad about killing this guy after that comment.'_ Naruto thought before he finished cutting the rope.

As soon as the rope snapped, Naruto turned and drilled his knee into the man beside him. Dispelling the Henge, he pulled a kunai from his pocket and drove it through the back of the man's neck as he doubled over.

Naruto paused a moment as the blood hit him and the man collapsed to the floor. He stood staring at the body, the first one he'd killed, before shaking himself.

' _I had to do it. If he didn't die, he'd continue to terrorize innocent people and pose a threat. He'd keep abducting women.'_

After taking the keys that Hiro carried, Naruto moved the dead body behind a few boxes to buy some time and then placed a few explosive tags in the hallway before continuing to move further into the hall. Easily, he found himself in a lower room full of cages with women in them.

These women were malnourished, sporting bruises, and wearing terrible clothing.

As Naruto entered the room, the women seemed to cower.

"Um. Hi. My name's Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a ninja from Konoha sent to rescue you."

The women looked up. One of them, one who seemed stronger, though a little more bruised, stood up. "Thank goodness. But, some of these girls can't walk. How are you going to get them out?"

Naruto thought about the question. "Well, I'm supposed to raise a signal and my team is going to assault the bandits. So, I guess we'll start with that. Stay here, okay? I'm gonna raise the signal then come down again."

Naruto rushed back to the hallway where he'd left the explosive tags, and then quickly activated them before moving back down, given himself enough time for the explosives to make a ruckus.

* * *

The bandits were all sitting down with the crop, rationing it and then cooking some for the day when they heard an explosion from the hallway that led to the prisoner area.

The leader stood up. "What the hell was that? Where's Hiro?"

Before the bandits could react, 3 more explosions came from the area shaking the cave a bit.

Another man stood up. "Shimura-san we haven't seen Hiro since he took the girl down earlier."

Three bandits rushed into the hallway. One of the called back. "The hallway's blocked Shimura-san. We're gonna try to move these rocks."

The bandit leader growled. "Check the other hallways. I'm going to go around the eastern hallway to check if there's anything in the other ones. The rest of you check for any other explosives."

The bandits scattered to check for more, fearing that they might be under attack.

* * *

Team Seven sat perched carefully in trees, waiting for the signal. As they heard the explosions, they dropped and attacked the guards at the front, who turned to check what the sounds was.

Sasuke dropped behind one and smoothly cut his throat and without flinching turned to gut the one beside him. Sakura dropped in front of one and kicked him between the legs as hard as she could. As the man dropped, she cut his throat.

The blood from the man's throat hit Sakura in the face and as the man fell, she looked into his eyes. She froze. ' _Oh my god. What have I done?'_

As Sakura froze, another bandit moved behind her and went to cut her down with an axe he carried.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled as he looked over. _'Shit. She's not used to this.'_

Frowning, Sasuke rushed towards the girl, pulling a kunai from his holster and moving to intercept the attack. He pushed Sakura out of the way and blocked the axe swing.

Sakura fell over and then looked at Sasuke dazed, tear welling up in her eyes. "Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke kicked the legs out from the bandit and then smoothly cut his throat, ignoring the blood hitting him.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Sasuke said moving closer to her.

She frowned. "I just… I just killed a guy. Without even hesitating."

Sasuke frowned harder. _'Ah. Shit. I don't know what to do. What would Naruto say?'_

His mind flashed to Naruto's response. ' _Don't worry Sakura-chan! That was the bad guy anyway! Here! Have some Ramen. Ramen makes everything better! I'm gonna be Hokage someday! Dattebayo!'_

Sasuke shook his head. _'Definitely not the thing to say.'_

He bent down closer to her. "Yeah. But, you did because you had to Sakura. I mean, imagine what these bandits would continue to do to that town if you didn't."

Kakashi dropped behind Sasuke, holding 3 dead bodies that he dropped unceremoniously. "Exactly. They'd continue to abduct women, rape them, and pillage that town. You just helped save countless lives."

Sakura looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Really?"

Kakashi nodded. "This is a sad part of what being a shinobi means. But, it's our duty to protect our citizens. Now, come on. Poor Naruto is stuck with the bandits."

Sakura nodded and stood. "I guess you're right. Thanks sensei. Thanks Sasuke-kun." She turned and began walking towards the entrance of the cave."

Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "Good job."

"Hn. (Thank Kami you showed up. I had no idea what to do.)"

Kakashi eye-smiled before moving to the entrance of the cave with the two genin. "Well, let's kill some bandits."

* * *

Naruto sneezed inside the cave. "Someone must be talking about me." He muttered as the girls gave him a weird look from inside their cages. He waited behind some boxes just opposite the tunnel entrance, listening as the men inside took down the hallway. Beside him two shadow clones sat waiting quietly. Directly across, two more clones waited, kunai ready, beside the entrance to the cave.

A large crashing sound, indicated to them that the rocks were finally out of the way.

As the first two bandits reached the room, the clones on the right and left immediately went to town, attacking the bandits, driving kunai into their stomachs and then charging into the small group of 8 bandits with reckless abandon. In no time, they killed the bandits losing only one of the clones from a lucky hit from behind.

The remaining clone backed up in the hallway to wait, sure that the other bandits would've heard the commotion.

Soon, more bandits began moving into the doorway and the clone rushed into the group attacking as Naruto and his other two clones began throwing kunai and shuriken from their location, cutting down bandits as they bottle necked their way trying to get into the room.

* * *

As the bandits were moving down, they heard a crash behind them. Turning, they noticed more 3 more people, the rest of Team 7.

Team 7 sprang into action attacking the bandits quickly. Sakura was the closest and she immediately moved to swiftly cut down bandits, sometimes using her new jutsu, Earth Bullet Jutsu, to hit a bandit further or provide support for her team.

Sasuke moved swiftly, killing 4 or 5 bandits for every one that Sakura killed, extremely precise with his kunai and shuriken and every time the bandits clumped, he would fire off a fireball into the pack to force them to move apart.

Quickly the bandits in the hallways and open areas were dead. The team gathered in the room, where Naruto brought the girls out and Kakashi carried the dead body of Shimura, the bandit leader.

"You killed him." Naruto said in a quiet voice to Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded. "The logistics of taking him alive weren't great. Can you make Shadow Clones to get the crop and the girls down to the village?"

Naruto nodded and summoned about 80 clones that moved into action. He turned to his teammates.

"You guys okay?" He said as he observed them. Sasuke seemed fine, not surprising considering how cold and collected the boy usually was. Sakura though seemed a bit shaken.

"Hn."

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting to have it be so hard. But, it was okay." Sakura said as she wiped a little blood from her cheek.

Kakashi eye smiled at the group. "Let's head back team. We can drop off the girls and the crop and then head back to Konoha."

* * *

 **A.N. I'm gonna leave it there! I think that was fitting for what most C rank missions in the Naruto world are supposed to be. And I got the interactions I wanted to fit into this chapter to grow the team better too! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'll try to get one out ASAP. Thanks again for reading and be sure to leave me some reviews with comments or suggestions! I always appreciate your thoughts!**


	10. Preparing for the Chunin Exams

A.N. Hello everyone! I'm excited to announce that we're now moving towards the Chunin exam! This is by far one of my favorite arcs in the original series, the first time we really see the genin grow, so I'm very excited. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. As always, thanks for reading.

 **I do have one quick reminder: Please be sure to vote on the poll on my profile for who you want paired with Naruto. The poll won't be the final decision but will help me make a decision because I have a bunch of options in mind! Thanks!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People speaking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal people thinking**

 **"Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

 **'** ** _Hey'_** **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

 **"** ** _Hey"_** **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

By the time Team 7 made it back to Konoha, it was noon the next day. The team stepped through the gates to be greeted by the Hokage's two chunin aides. One of the men had spiky hair, a small soul patch style beard, and a bandage that went over his nose and across his face. Naruto recognized him as Kotetsu Hagane. The other was similar to the first in height but had flatter hair that fell over one side of his face blocking an eye. He wore a bandana over his head which had the leaf headband sown in and his chin was covered by part of his ninja shirt. This man Naruto recognized as Izumo Kamizuki.

"Hi there Kakashi-san! Coming back from a mission?" Kotetsu called as the pair, always seen together, stood to receive the team and check their papers.

"Yeah. We just got back from a C rank mission." Kakashi said.

"Was that your first one?" Izumo asked as he stamped the papers.

"No. Our second. The team did a good job though." Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "We'll be off then."

"Have a good day!" The pair called as Team 7 walked away.

Kakashi turned to his team. "Well. It's about lunch time so how about we grab lunch. My treat?"

The three genin's stomach's simultaneously growled and Kakashi chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's head to Akimichi Barbeque."

As the team began walking, though, Kakashi suddenly stopped and looked up where an eagle circled overhead before flying away. ' _Is it that time already? I suppose I should report immediately then.'_

Kakashi turned to his team and eye-smiled. "Well. It looks like we'll have to change our plans a bit."

The genin stopped and gave their sensei a quizzical look. "Why sensei? What happened?" Naruto asked.

"It seems that the jonin are being summoned for a meeting. You guys go eat without me and ask that it be put on my tab. Then, meet at Training Ground 7. I'll head right over there and this'll let me report our mission to Hokage-sama too." Kakashi said before poofing away.

Naruto turned to his teammates. "I guess that means we get to go eat by ourselves."

Sakura nodded. "I guess so."

"Hn."

* * *

 _-In the Hokage's Office-_

The Hokage took a puff of his pipe as his jonin assembled before him. "Welcome. I think we must wait a while as Kakashi might be a bit."

Unfortunately for the older man, no sooner had he said that, Kakashi appeared at the door and walked in.

Immediately, all the jonin in the room drew their weapons and turned to Kakashi.

"Who the hell are you?!" Asuma said as he began channeling Chakra. Kurenai immediately tried to dispel a genjutsu.

"It's too strong! Even I can't dispel it."

Gai charged the white haired jonin. "HOW DARE YOU COPY MY BELOVED RIVAL?"

Kakashi held up his hands. "Wait! It's me, Kakashi! I just have a meeting with my team after and since it's that time, I thought I should get here on time."

The jonin in the room relaxed.

Hiruzen chuckled at the scene while Kakashi shook his head. "I'm not that bad. Geez."

The other jonin rolled their eyes and turned to face the Hokage.

"Well, since everyone is here, let us begin. The Chunin Exams are upon us and this time it is Konoha's turn to host them. Therefore, I would like for our jonin sensei to nominate their teams. Let us start with the old teams."

Sarutobi took another long drag from his pipe and then signed a piece of paperwork. ' _Ah the eternal struggle of the Hokage. How I wish that I had learned from Minato his trick to finish these so fast.'_

"Older teams, step forward and let me know if your teams are ready." Hiruzen said, signaling his secretary to begin recording the teams.

There was a murmur that went through the room as no one stepped forward. Then, Gai stepped up. "Hokage-sama! I believe that my team, after their year of preparation, is more than ready for their advancement exams!"

Sarutobi nodded. "Anyone else?" He waited a bit before continuing. "Seeing as there is no one else. Let's move on to this year's rookies."

Kakashi stepped forward. "I nominate Team 7 for the Chunin Exams."

Kurenai stepped forward. "I nominate Team 8 for the Chunin Exams."

Asuma stepped forward. "I nominate Team 10 for the Chunin Exams."

Before anyone could respond, Iruka stepped up. "Wait a second! That's all of this year's graduates. Forgive my disrespect but they aren't ready! They could die in this exam!"

Kakashi turned to Iruka. "Unfortunately, you haven't been keeping up with the genin. They aren't your students anymore. They're our soldiers. It's our decision when we think they're ready."

Sarutobi held up a hand. "This is a fair statement. Iruka, it is the jonin-sensei who are responsible for training these genin. It is their responsibility. I will allow these 9 to join the exams. Please have your students receive their rosters. Dismissed."

The ninja in the room bowed before leaving. Kakashi stayed as did Iruka.

Kakashi handed Sarutobi a scroll. "Here is the mission report Hokage-sama. The team performed admirably. We were able to kill all of the bandits and free the village."

The man nodded. "Iruka. I know your fears. Therefore, I will let you test Naruto, since he was the dead-last of his class."

Iruka nodded. "Very well, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi smiled and then left, heading to give his team the news.

* * *

Team Seven arrived at their training ground to find Kakashi already standing waiting for them.

"Yo!" He called as the team moved forward.

"What's up Kakashi-sensei? What was the meeting about?" Naruto said excitedly as the team moved to join him.

Kakashi eye-smiled at the blond boy. "Mah. I can't tell you everything that jonin and chunin talk about Naruto. That's classified stuff."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I don't see why. I'm gonna find out anyway when I'm Hokage."

Sasuke scoffed while Sakura just rolled her eyes.

"What teme? You got a problem?" Naruto said turning.

"Naruto-Baka, leave Sasuke-kun alone!"

 **"** ** _Cha! Boy better back off our man!"_** Inner Sakura yelled.

Kakashi sighed as he continued talking. ' _Damn. I really forget we aren't totally past this yet.'_

"Anyway. I have some news for you guys." The team turned to look at him curiously. "I officially nominated you three for this year's Chunin Exams that will start in one month."

Naruto jumped up and down. "What?! That's awesome sensei!"

Sasuke smirked. ' _Finally, a chance to test my ability and catch up to Itachi.'_

Sakura tried to hide her look of panic, though Kakashi caught it.

"You all have the option to take it or not. The decision is completely yours. Regardless, for the next month, we'll train as if you're taking it."

The genin nodded.

"What're we going to work on sensei?" Naruto said leaning forward.

"We'll work on improving your jutsu repertoire, teamwork, and other skills that should set you apart from the others." Kakashi said. "The other genin from your class are likely to take the test. I want you guys to beat them."

"No problem!" Naruto said, shooting Kakashi a thumbs up.

"Hn. (Obviously)" Sasuke grunted.

"For today, let's dismiss. We'll meet tomorrow morning to begin training. Come prepared for a long day."

"Hai sensei." the three genin said before leaving.

* * *

The three genin walked together away from the Training Ground, two excited for the training and one nervous.

Sakura looked at her teammates a little nervous to ruin their excitement. ' _No. They're my teammates. They should know how I feel.'_

"Guys. I don't think I want to join the Chunin Exam." Sakura said, cringing a bit. _'Oh God. What's Sasuke-kun gonna think?'_

Naruto turned to Sakura, his jaw almost dropping. "What?! But you're so strong Sakura! You could kick ass in the exam."

Sakura just shook her head. "It's supposed to be a really hard exam. And I don't feel like I've improved. I've gotten bigger chakra reserves and learned on Earth Style Jutsu. I learned some basic field medical techniques."

Sasuke stayed quiet and kept walking as Naruto continued. "That's still important! You're the support on our team. I have no chakra control compared to you and I can't heal. Teme's an asshole who can't work with others and can't heal either. You're the only one that could keep us from dying from being stupid."

Sakura giggled a bit before smacking the blond boy playfully. "Don't talk about Sasuke-kun that way." She muttered.

Naruto grinned. "Anyway, I'm gonna take off guys. I promised I'd meet up with Konohamaru and his friends and show them some cool Ninja stuff. I'm gonna blow their minds."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Have fun, Baka."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

The blond took off over rooftops and the two others began walking again.

"He's right you know." Sasuke said suddenly.

"What?" Sakura said, startled a bit as she turned.

"Naruto's right about you being an important part of the team. You used to be this weak useless fangirl, but you've really changed."

Sakura stared at Sasuke. "I guess so."

Sasuke turned to face Sakura completely. "Definitely. You're stronger, you train harder, and Naruto and I can't heal or provide support. Plus, you were important in the mission with getting the bandits."

Sakura gave Sasuke a big smile. "Thanks Sasuke-kun. That really means a lot, coming from you. Anyway, I'd better head home too."

With those words, the pinkette took off, hiding her enormous blush from the Uchiha.

Sasuke ignored the faint tingling on his cheeks and hurried home, eager to train on his own.

* * *

Naruto dropped down in an open training ground near the Academy to find nothing but a square box with the pattern of rocks on it.

Rolling his eyes, He quickly moved to be behind the box and then jumped on it.

"Hey! What is that?" Came a boy's voice.

"Udon-kun. Quit moving around!" A girl's voice yelled.

"That must be Naruto-nii-san!" Another boy's voice.

Naruto jumped off the box and rolled his eyes. "Come on out guys."

The box exploded away with a powerful boom. Out of it three kids emerged coughing.

"I think we used too much gunpowder." The girl, Moegi, said.

One of the boys with classes, Udon, nodded. "Way too much."

Konohamaru coughed. "Yeah. Anyway, what's up Naruto-bro?"

Naruto shook his head at the kids' antics as his mind flashed back to the first time he'd bet the Hokage's grandson. "You know, rocks aren't square, right? You should try to fix that."

* * *

- ** _Flashback-_**

 _Naruto stood in a chair in the Hokage's office as the Hokage reviewed his paperwork for receiving his official genin certification._

 _"Well, Naruto-kun, it appears that you have everything in order here. I'm pleasantly surprised. I thought you would do something silly like painting your face."_

 _Naruto twitched as he tried not to yell. "I'm way more mature than that now. I have to act like a ninja. Dattebayo!"_

 _Sarutobi chuckled at the boy's obvious attempts at restraint. "Indeed. Well, Naruto, it looks like everything you need, you have. You're officially a Genin of Konoha."_

 _Naruto bowed. "Thank you." As he stood, though, a little boy burst into the room holding a wooden shuriken. The boy was short with a helmet of some kind on, a yellow shirt with the leaf symbol on it and an incredibly long scarf that hung to his legs._

 _"I've got you today old man! I'm gonna beat you and become Hokage!" The boy yelled as he charged towards the Hokage who sighed._

 _'_ This is already the 25th time today.' _The man thought as the boy rushed him._

 _'_ Ah. He's gonna trip if he has a scarf that long.' _Naruto thought watching the boy rush the Hokage. No sooner had he thought that, the boy tripped on his scar and face planted to the floor. At that same moment, a jonin wearing black standard ninja clothes burst into the room._

 _"Little Master! Are you okay? Why did you run off again?"_

 _The boy sat up and rubbed his nose while looking around. "What tripped me? It was you wasn't it!?" He yelled pointing a finger at Naruto._

 _Naruto grit his teeth before walking over to him. He reached down and picked up the scarf. "This scarf is what tripped you. If you have to wear it, at least make it shorter."_

 _The boy, who had a few tears in his eyes from when he fell, just pushed Naruto's hand away. "Liar! It was you! Just admit it!"_

 _Naruto grit his teeth and picked him up by his collar and prepared to swing. "No one calls me a liar you little brat!"_

 _The jonin interrupted before Naruto could hit the boy though. "Unhand the young master, you delinquent! That's Hokage-sama's grandson you're holding!"_

 _Naruto paused as he turned to look at the old Hokage._

 _Konohamaru grinned. "Yeah! That's right. You're just gonna wimp out like everyone else now that you know who my grandpa is."_

 _Naruto grit his teeth and then sharply punched Konohamaru on the head before dropping him. "I don't care if he's your grandma! Stupid brat." He then turned to the Hokage, who was sighing again. "I'm heading out Oji-san." With that he left._

 _The jonin was in shock. "Hokage-sama! You can't just let the de-, er, delinquent just leave after hitting your grandson!"_

 _Sarutobi gave the man a harsh look. "I don't see why not, Ebisu. It was Konohamaru-kun's fault since he was quite rude to young Naruto-kun."_

 _Konohamaru sat up rubbing his head. "Hey. Where did that guy go?"_

 _Ebisu looked up and pushed his glasses up. "Now, young master, you must not associate with such delinquents! Instead, you must stick with me! I am an elite jonin who will be able to guide you on your path to become Hokage by showing you the shortest route there."_

 _He looked around down at the place where Konohamaru was to find that his ward wasn't there. "Where did the young master go?!"_

 _The Hokage calmly sipped on his tea. "I believe he went to find Naruto-kun."_

 _"THAT'S A DISASTER!"_

* * *

 _Naruto walked towards a public training ground when he heard someone behind him. He turned to see a disguise blanket being held wrong and a puff of hair over it. "Um. You know, I can see you."_

 _Konohamaru dropped the blanket. "As expected of my boss! I want you to train me!"_

 _Naruto rolled his eyes. "Why would I train you? And I'm not your boss."_

 _Konohamaru shook his head. "You beat my grandpa right? Show me how you did it! Then, I'll let you be the boss! Please!"_

 _Naruto shook his head. "Well, I'm not that busy. Whatever. Let's do it. Tell me. What do you know about the "Henge no Jutsu"?"_

* * *

 _Naruto and Konohamaru sat together on a log sharing a drink after training. "So, what makes you wanna beat your Grandpa so bad?"_

 _Konohamaru looked at Naruto. "My grandpa named me Konohamaru because he loves this village. Everyone in this village knows my name but no one uses it. For all of them, I'm "Young Master" or "Honorable Grandson". No one sees me for me and I'm sick of it. I'm going to become Hokage and make them all acknowledge me."_

 _Naruto looked up. '_ He's like me except he's got the opposite problem. That sucks.'

 _He looked down again. "Who's gonna acknowledge some brat like you?"_

 _Konohamaru jumped up. "What?"_

 _"The Hokage title isn't something that some little kid could just take. It's not a game. If you want to be Hokage, then…"_

 _Konohamaru grit his teeth. "Then what?"_

 _Naruto turned to face the boy and grinned. "Then, you'd better beat me first!"_

 _As he finished the sentence though, Ebisu landed on a branch above the two. "Found you Honorable Grandson!" He turned and looked at Naruto. '_ Tch. Demon Brat."

 _Naruto growled at the look._ 'Those eyes. Why does everyone look at me with those eyes?'

 _The man jumped down. "Let's go home young master!"_

 _Konohamaru stood up. "NO way! I've learned more from the boss than I have from you ever! I'm gonna become Hokage so go away!_

 _With that he began channeling chakra. "Take this! Sexy no Jutsu!" He transformed into a naked girl and Ebisu's jaw dropped._

 _"Young Master! That is such a dirty skill! I am a gentleman, such a jutsu won't work on me! Now come with me! I will make you Hokage on the shortcut!"_

 _Naruto stood up as Konohamaru resisted and then formed a hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

 _"Hey!" the clones called as fifty of them appeared. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Well maybe you already are."_

 _Ebisu released Konohamaru and turned. "Hmph. I am an elite of the village. What you used on Mizuki won't beat me."_

 _Naruto grinned and then formed another seal. "Take this! Harem no Jutsu!"_

 _Ebisu suddenly found himself surrounded by fifty naked women who were hugging him. His eyes rolled to the back of his head before he was knocked out by the huge geyser of blood erupted from his nose._

 _Konohamaru looked on in astonishment. "Wow! You beat my tutor boss! You're awesome!"_

 _Naruto rolled his eyes as the boy kept talking._

 _"I wanna be acknowledge by the village and still…"_

 _Naruto smacked the boy. "It's not that easy! This is the Hokage we're talking about, the greatest ninja in our village! Finding someone to acknowledge you is incredibly difficult. So you better prepare yourself."_

 _Konohamaru raised an eyebrow. "Prepare myself?"_

 _Naruto nodded. "If you want to be the Hokage and have everyone acknowledge you, then there won't be any shortcuts."_

 _Konohamaru's eyes widened. "I've made up my mind. Quit lecturing me like you know everything. You're not my boss anymore! From now on, we're rivals!"_

 _Naruto grinned. "Sure thing… Konohamaru."_

 _-_ ** _End Flashback-_**

* * *

Konohamaru rolled his eyes. "So, what're you gonna show us today?"

Before Naruto could say anything though, a strange looking man jumped down and grabbed Moegi before jumping away.

The man, tall and burly, with gray hair and a covered face held the girl under his arm as he moved to the nearest rooftop. Before he reached it though, he found himself facing the blond haired boy from before, who was clearly furious.

Naruto launched a harsh kick at the man's head from in the air. As the man blocked the kick, Naruto quickly aimed two sharp strikes into the sides of the man's knees, hitting pressure points that caused the man to fall as he landed on the roof.

Naruto picked up Moegi and moved her to the other academy students before pulling out a kunai and facing the man.

"Who are you?" He said as he held up the weapon. "And what do you want from the kids?"

The man laughed before a puff of smoke covered him and Iruka emerged from inside.

"Not too bad Naruto. That was really unexpected." He said as he stood shakily.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said. "I didn't know you were into little girls!"

Iruka ignored the comment, though his eye developed a nasty twitch. "Sorry about that Moegi-chan, Konohamaru-kun, Udon-kun. I was asked to test Naruto by the Hokage as a prerequisite to enter the Chunin Exam."

Naruto grinned. "Did I pass?"

"Yeah. It's a brutal exam Naruto. Be sure to train hard."

"You bet! Anyway, I was gonna show these guys how to throw a kunai! Wanna join?"

Iruka nodded. "Sure. It'll be my make up for scaring them like that. I'll treat you guys to ramen after too."

* * *

Naruto woke the next morning to the sounds of his alarm clock. Turning it off, he stumbled his way into the bathroom to wash his face and then headed to the kitchen to grab breakfast. Naruto's cooking skill had improved tremendously since Kakashi'd first taught him to cook. Though there were still things he struggled with (like poaching an egg), he could at least produce decent food. Mornings were always when Naruto ate the most, not always having an idea of how hard he would train before his next meal or if he would even have time for one. For today, he made a large breakfast of 3 scrambled eggs, a bowl of oatmeal with a banana, and a glass of milk.

Finishing the food, he jumped out of his window, heading towards Training Ground 7 excited to start training for the exams. Naruto arrived at the training ground, he found Sasuke sitting quietly, in his usual brooding pose. Sakura sat beside him with her book on field medicine.

"Yo!" Naruto called holding up a hand. "How'd you guys sleep?"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he continued to brood.

"Pretty good." Sakura said, blushing a bit as she remembered her very nice dream about Sasuke-kun. "Kakashi-sensei probably won't be here for another hour."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I can't believe he's going to be late to this too. We've only got a month before this stupid exam."

"It's not like you can't just train twenty times as fast with your shadow clones." Sakura said rolling her eyes. "We're the ones at a disadvantage."

Naruto pouted at the pink haired girl. "Yeah but you already have crumbling your leaf down and the Earth Bullet jutsu. I haven't even got a jutsu in my element yet."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should finish cutting your rock then. Now that you got one clean cut, you just need 8 at once right? Anyway, what do you guys think we'll do today?"

"Spar." Sasuke said, suddenly. "And physical training."

Naruto turned quizzically to the boy. "What makes you say that?"

Sasuke pointed behind Naruto. "Sensei just showed up and he cracked his knuckles."

"Morning guys!" Kakashi said with an eye smile. "Let's start with a spar! Sasuke first since he was so excited."

* * *

The three genin lay on the ground groaning. They'd each sparred Kakashi and then sparred him again as a team. And he'd whooped them.

"Why can't we spar each other?" Sakura said.

"Yeah." Naruto groaned from his spot as his wounds healed.

"Hn."

Kakashi sat by the genin. "Well, let's get to the next part of our training."

The genin sat up slowly. "What's the training?"

Kakashi smiled. "Well, I figured I'd ask you guys. What do you want to improve in? What do you think will be the biggest benefit to you and the team? Sakura first."

Sakura thought carefully for a bit. "Well… I'm a supportive ninja."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. You've got medical skill and an earth style jutsu that you can use for offense or defense."

"I think I want to learn some genjutsu since that'll fit my style and something so that I can handle myself in a fight by myself too."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "That's a good decision. We'll work on some genjutsu and your ability in a one on one scenario." He turned to Sasuke. "What's next for you?"

Sasuke responded immediately. "I want to improve my use of the Sharingan, learn a Lightning style jutsu, and my fire style technique."

Kakashi nodded. "So you want to improve your ability as a powerful fighter and play to your strong points?"

Seeing the nod, he turned. "Well, Naruto. You're the last one. What do you want to improve?"

Naruto thought about his options. "Well, I have a lot I can work on for the month with clones. I'd like to work on more fuinjutsu, learn some more ninjutsu, keep polishing my taijutsu, and I think most importantly I want to get better at strategy."

Kakashi nodded as Naruto talked till he heard "strategy". Looking up, while quickly hiding his surprise, he spoke. "Strategy? What makes you want to learn that?"

"Well. Chunin are supposed to be squad leaders right? So strategy seems really important. Also, if Sakura is really support oriented and Teme is really attack oriented. So, I should be in between and coordinate the two with strategy if possible."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Great idea! We'll work on your strategic ability and the other stuff since you can use clones."

Naruto nodded "Awesome!"

Kakashi summoned 2 shadow clones. "Let's split up together team."

* * *

Sakura stood with one of the shadow clones in a less wooded area.

"Well, Sakura let's start with a genjutsu. I'm going to place you under it and then we'll go over how to use it."

Kakashi flashed his hands through a series of hand seals. Suddenly everything became incredibly blurry for Sakura. Everything looked hazy and the colors blurred together.

She put her fingers together and disrupted her chakra. "Kai!"

The world returned to normal and Kakashi stood in front of her again. "Not bad Sakura. That's a D rank genjutsu but do you see why it's useful?"

Sakura nodded. "I couldn't see anything. All the colors blurred together. That would make an enemy ninja have a real tough time hitting anything."

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly! Let's start by working on that. Put that genjutsu on me if you can. Here's the hand seals."

* * *

Another clone stood with Sasuke. "Well, Sasuke. Activate your sharingan. I'm going to fire off a lightning style technique. I want you to copy it."

Sasuke gave a curt nod as Kakashi formed a few hand seals. He held his hand up at a tree and then fired a bolt of lightning from it. The jutsu ripped into the tree, blowing a huge chunk from it.

"That's the Lightning Bolt Jutsu, straight forward, and simple."

Sasuke nodded and then started to copy how Kakashi performed it.

Before he could though, he found himself defending Kakashi's attacks.

"Your opponents won't give you time to copy jutsu slowly. You'll have to do it fast while defending."

Sasuke dodged a strike to his head and then tried again.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Naruto and Kakashi, there were copies of Naruto everywhere. One group of fifty worked on cutting the rock into eight pieces using wind chakra. Another group of thirty were practicing calligraphy for an indicator seal, a technique that would allow Naruto to place them on teammates to have a way to identify them at any point. Forty of the clones were attempting a jutsu that Kakashi showed Naruto, Wind Style: Air Bullets. Other clones sat around reading various books that Kakashi'd recommended on strategy while Naruto himself sat with Kakashi who was playing a game of Shogi with him as a way to teach strategy.

In this manner, the team continued to train, supplementing with D rank missions in between to prepare for the Chunin Exams.

* * *

 **A.N: And that's a wrap! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm really looking forward to starting the chunin exams themselves next. As always, thank you guys for reading and be sure to review to let me know of any suggestions you guys may have.**

 **Don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile if you guys are interested in who Naruto should be paired with! Thanks!**


	11. Chunin Exam Begins!

**A.N. Hello everyone! Thanks for all your kind reviews and words that you guys had for me. I really appreciate it. So, we're getting into my favorite parts of the story so I'm extremely excited. I've been planning this forever now, so I hope it'll be good.**

 **There is one review I would like to address, because I couldn't PM this person back.**

 **Friendlystranger: I personally don't think I'm going to speed up how quickly Naruto picks up elemental jutsu that much. He's a smart kid and shadow clones speed things up a lot, but the shadow clone jutsu has a pretty big drawback in the mental stress. A kid can't really handle that as well which is why he was warned from using it too much. Plus, it'd be a bit OP if Naruto could become this invincible powerful monster with 5 different elements in just 2 years. There's not enough time to grow, I feel. But, hopefully, with this new arc coming up, he will grow a lot more and he will advance to a better place.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…. Yet.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People speaking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal people thinking**

" **Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

" _ **Hey"**_ **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Naruto's alarm blared only for an already awake Naruto to turn it off. Naruto'd woken up early, excited to return to training. He'd made great progress on all of his skills and he was excited to continue improving. Sitting down at the small table in his kitchen, Naruto took a bit from a piece of buttered toast as he read from a book he'd bought. The book was a manga he'd found about an orange haired kid who became a Shinigami. Enjoying his manga, Naruto finished his breakfast and then quickly headed back to Training Ground 7 to continue training for the day.

* * *

Naruto arrived at Training Ground 7 to find Sakura practicing her jutsu on various trees. Her reservoir of jutsu had improved greatly with the Earth Style technique which made her much more formidable during team spars. A little away from her, Sasuke stood surrounded by targets in strange places. 8 targets were placed behind rocks, on trees, and on the ground and the Uchiha would try to hit all 8 with kunai simultaneously. The boy could only hit 5 successfully, but Naruto was already impressed by the boy's ability.

Naruto grinned. ' _I can't let them get ahead of me.'_ Yelling a quick morning greeting, Naruto made 50 clones that began working on jutsu while Naruto began his morning workout.

The genin continued to train till Kakashi arrived around 10:00 am. The silver haired jonin arrived to find his team training and eye-smiled proudly as he watched them. ' _They've grown these past few months.'_

Jumping form his tree, Kakashi landed and called out to the genin. "Alright team. Come over here. Let's discuss the exam a bit more."

The genin moved to sit with Kakashi who produced 4 apples and passed one to each of the genin and then quickly devoured his through his mask.

The genin sighed as the man ate, having hoped to have seen their sensei's face.

"So, what did you want to discuss sensei?" Sakura said as she took a bite from her own apple.

"Let's talk about what skills a chunin needs. What kinds of missions do you think a chunin would be expected to go on?"

Sasuke spoke up first, using his experience with his family members who were chunin. "Scouting, patrolling, carrying important documents for treaties, and espionage."

Kakashi nodded. "Good. Anyone else?"

Sakura spoke next. "I would think they'd also do things like protect convoys and diplomats."

"Good Sakura. Naruto?"

"Um. They'd probably deal with low level missing-nin."

Kakashi nodded. "All good things. I want to focus in on the ones Sasuke named. What's the common theme for those?"

Sakura answered immediately. "Information. They're protecting information or getting information."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Excellent Sakura. Exactly. So, as a group of three, if you become chunin, you'll need to independently and as a team be good at getting information without getting caught. Let's talk about what we have for that."

"Sharingan." Sasuke said.

"Yes. The excellent eye sight gives you the ability to see and observe from far away and to use that information to your benefit."

Sakura frowned. "I don't really have any skills that let me get information, sensei."

"I kind of do. Shadow clones could do that really well, but it would be hard for me to make them all the time and then relay information through them. They could get information to me, but I don't have a surefire way to send that information." Naruto said thinking hard.

"Those are astute observations. Sakura, you don't have much for information gathering. But, because you specialize in genjutsu and medical jutsu, you have more skill in keeping people alive. But there are genjutsu that can be cast that will hide you. Primarily, I think your task will be to as a receiver for the information." Kakashi said. "Naruto, you have the skills to be a spy with all the pranks you played during your time in the academy. Your shadow clones will be great for spying but you need ways to communicate information better and to share information with teammates."

Naruto nodded. "That makes sense. So, how do you think I would learn to do that?"

Kakashi smiled. "Well, think through your skills. What do you think would be the way to share information of some kind or to get information?"

Naruto frowned as he sat rubbing his head. "Um… Fuinjutsu?"

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Yes. So, that's what you'll work on today. One thing you'll work on today anyway. Besides that, we'll continue our usual training."

Naruto nodded before making 50 clones to have them work on figuring out a seal that would let him communicate and then made 120 more clones to work on other things.

* * *

The team sat exhausted from the day's training as Kakashi stood by them the tired genin. "Well, let's call it a day guys. We've got 5 days before the exams start. It wouldn't be too great if you guys were to get injured before the training."

The genin just nodded too tired to say anything. Kakashi eye-smiled. ' _Awwwww. How cute. These kids are growing up so fast.'_ "Well. I'm off. Later." Kakashi shunshined away in a puff of smoke.

Naruto sat up. "Alright. What do you guys plan to do now?" He asked his team turning to them.

Sasuke sat up. "I didn't really have much planned. I want to train more but I'm pretty tired."

"Me too." Sakura said. "But, first, I want food."

"Ramen?" Naruto said sitting up excitedly.

"Sure dobe." Sasuke said rolling his eyes.

The team moved to the Ramen stand and were finishing their bowl when suddenly the flap behind them opened and Konohamaru rushed in.

"I knew I'd find you here!" The small boy said pointing angrily at Naruto. "You promised us you'd play ninja with us today."

Sakura giggled. "A ninja playing ninja? That's so lame Naruto."

Naruto grinned. "Nah. It's pretty fun. You guys should come play."

Konohamaru looked at the pink haired girl. "Hey, Naruto-bro? Is this your girlfriend?"

Sakura had a vein on her head pop and she balled her fist prepared to punch the blond.

"Nah. She's not. She's a great friend and teammate but that's really it." Naruto said with a grin and Sakura relaxed turning back to Sasuke who was taking a bite of his ramen.

"That's good. She's kinda ugly with her flat chest and huge forehead." Konohamaru said loudly.

In that moment three things happened. First Naruto paled as the room filled with killing intent and Sakura stood up, her face red. Sasuke snorted and choked on his ramen. Naruto turned to Konohamaru.

"Konohamaru, are you a fast runner?"

"Yeah. Why?" The boy said as Sakura stood.

Naruto pointed at Sakura. "She's about to kill you. Run!" Konohamaru took off as Sakura chased him. Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood, suppressing a laugh to keep up his coolness.

"I'll pay." Sasuke said as he handed money to Teuchi. "Let's go stop our teammate from murdering the Hokage's grandson.

* * *

Konohamaru yelled apologies as he ran as fast as he could from the pink haired girl chasing him. As he did though, he found himself suddenly running into something. He stumbled back and looked up to see a boy wearing a strange black suit with purple paint on his face. Beside the boy, stood a girl with blond hair tied into four pony-tails who wore a white-ish dress.

"That hurt you little brat." The boy said snarling down at Konohamaru as he grabbed Konohamaru by the collar and picked him up.

Sakura arrived to see the scene and pulled out a kunai. "Hey! Put him down!"

The boy looked at her and grinned. ' _A weakling Konoha Genin. Let's have some fun.'_

The girl beside the boy turned to him. "Kankuro, put him down. You're going to get into trouble later."

The boy laughed. "Let's just have a little fun, Temari, before the boss gets…"

Before he could finish his sentence though, he felt cold steel press to his neck. Temari began to move to find another sharp point touch her neck.

Sakura sighed in relief as Naruto and a clone stood behind the Suna genin and detained them as Sasuke moved forward and removed Konohamaru from the situation.

"What the fuck do you pricks think you're doing?" Naruto said as he moved back to stand across from the genin with his team.

Temari looked at both the boys on Team 7. ' _Looks like Konoha has quite the monopoly on cuties.'_

Kankuro growled. "These kids!" He reached onto his back and pulled a strange wrapped up thing."

Temari looked alarmed. "You're going to use Karasu here?"

Suddenly, a cold voice caught everyone's attention. "Kankuro. Stop." All eyes shot to a figure standing upside down in a nearby tree. The boy wore black clothes with a white scarf wrapped diagonally. On his back was a giant gourd that appeared to be made of clay. The boy had red hair and on his forehead was a tattoo of the kanji for love. "You're an embarrassment to the village."

Kankuro paled. "Yes, Gaara. I'm sorry. But, but, they started it. I swear."

Gaara just glared. "Shut up. I'll kill you."

Kankuro apologized.

Gaara turned to the Leaf genin. ' _To think they could sneak up on Temari and Kankuro like that. Those two are good.'_ "I apologize to you on behalf of my team." The boy said as he leaked mild killing intent.

Naruto nodded. "It's cool. But, you almost started a war. Every ninja in Konoha would be after your heads. You almost assaulted the Hokage's grandson."

The two genin beside Gaara paled.

Sakura stepped forward. "I assume you're here for the chunin exams?"

Gaara nodded before preparing to walk away.

Sasuke spoke suddenly. "Hey. What's your name?"

Temari blushed. "Me?"

Sasuke shook his head. "The one with the red hair."

Naruto snorted. "Awwww! Teme! You finally found the one for you!" He turned to Temari. "I'm sorry that my teammate doesn't know how to talk to a beautiful woman like yourself. I'm Naruto Uzumaki and you are?"

Temari blushed harder. Not many men would dare compliment here with Gaara and Kankuro around. "Temari of the Sand."

Naruto grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet you." ' _Thank God I read that book about how to talk to girls.'_

Sasuke ignored Naruto's jab, resisting the urge to smack him. ' _Stupid dobe with his stupid accusations.'_

Sakura paled and then turned a light green. ' _Oh no! What if he's really gay? What'll I do?'_

" _ **Cha! There's no way that that hunk of delicious man meat is gay! Don't even worry about it!"**_

Gaara spoke up staring at Sasuke. "I am Gaara of the Sand. You?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

With those words, the Suna ninja departed.

"Looks like the exam is going to be interesting." Naruto said, his face becoming serious.

"Hn." Sasuke said slipping his hands into pockets. "I think I'm going to head back to my house."

Sakura nodded. "Me too. The exam is in two days. I wanna prep some more before."

Naruto turned to Konohamaru. "I still owe you guys a game of ninja. Let's go play."

Above the area, three genin with strange head bands and faces sat. One with a face completely covered except one eye with a bushy white shell behind him. Beside him a girl stood with long hair and a green shirt. On the other side stood a grinning boy with spikey black hair and a yellow shirt. All three wore white and black camo pants.

The boy with the spiky hair spoke. "So, Dosu, what do you think?"

"Keep an eye on the one with the red hair and the one with the black hair. The rest are unimportant."

* * *

The team continued to train for the next day, though they were more careful to take it easy to preserve their strength. Then, the day of the chunin exam came.

The three genin met outside the academy where they were told to meet.

"Morning!" Naruto called as he met his teammates outside their old Academy building.

"Hn." Sasuke said turning to walk into the building.

Sakura yawned. "Morning Naruto." She said as she followed Sasuke.

The team made their way up a flight of stairs and as they did something seemed off.

' _I could've sworn we've only gone up one flight of stairs.'_ Naruto thought as he turned to his team.

"Genjutsu." Sakura whispered quietly to both the boys.

Sasuke nodded. "Should we call them out or keep moving?"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond when suddenly, there was a commotion from the doors which appeared to be blocked by two older genin.

One of the genin knocked down a strange boy with a green skin tight suit and orange leg warmers whom Naruto recognized immediately.

"Hold on. I know that guy. He's one of Gai-sensei's students." Naruto said as he moved closer to see what was happening.

The genin who knocked down Lee was speaking. "Hah! You wanna take the test with that? You might as well just quit now."

The genin beside him laughed. "Yeah. You're just a kid."

A girl with a pink Chinese style top and buns, who Naruto recognized as Tenten stepped forward. "Please just let us through."

The genin blocking the door smacked her across the face knocking her down too. "Listen. This is our kindness. We've both failed three times. We're just weeding people out."

Naruto nudged Sasuke. "Call them out."

Sasuke nodded and then stepped forward. "Hey! You might as well let me pass. This is just a genjutsu anyway."

The other genin in the room looked around quizzically while one of the two blocking the door removed the genjutsu. "Well, it looks like someone saw through it."

Sasuke shook his head. "Sakura, here, was the first one to notice and bring it up."

Sakura blushed. ' _He remembered.'_ "Of course. Anyone would be able to see through such a weak genjutsu."

One of the genin, who by now looked suspiciously like Kotetsu to Naruto, grinned. "Not bad but all you've done is see through it." With those words, he launched a vicious kick at Sasuke who launched his own.

Suddenly though, both of their legs were stopped by Lee who caught both kicks and stood between them.

' _He's totally different than before when he was being beaten up.'_ Sakura thought.

' _To have caught my leg with just his hand like that. That must be some impressive chakra in his hands.'_ Sasuke thought.

Tenten turned to Lee. "What are you doing? I thought we were hiding our strength?"

Lee ignored her as a blush came over his face. He turned and walked up to Team 7. "You are Sakura-san correct?"

Sakura nodded, trying not to stare at the boy's massive eyebrows. "Yeah."

Lee gave the girl a thumbs up and a patented Gai smile. "Let us go out together! I will protect you till I die!"

Naruto snickered as Sasuke hid a smile of his own.

Sakura turned pale. "No way! You're lame and I don't need anyone to protect me! I'm a kunoichi!"

Lee dropped his head. "Then, I will defend your honor and convince you to date me by amazing you during this exam!"

Naruto laughed more. "That's so like you Lee."

Lee smiled at Naruto. "Do not worry Naruto-san! I will also strive to show you how much I have improved!"

Neji stood up and moved forward. "You there. What's your name?" He said staring at Sasuke.

"Geez. Meeting of assholes." Naruto muttered to Tenten who rolled her eyes at him.

"Neji's not that bad." She said staring at her crush.

"He didn't tell you guys there was a genjutsu did he?" Naruto said, recalling from his few experiences how stuck up the Hyuga was.

Tenten shook her head sadly before continuing to stare at Neji.

Sasuke smirked. "Don't you know that it's good manners to give your own name first before asking for another's?"

Neji continued ignoring the jab. "You're a rookie right? How old are you?"

"I don't have to answer to you."

Naruto grinned at Tenten and Sakura suddenly. "Watch this." Turning back to the two "geniuses", he spoke. "Hey! Neji! Sorry to inform you but Sas-uke probably has his eye on one of the other gentlemen here from Suna!"

Tenten started giggling while Sakura smacked Naruto. "Quit questioning Sasuke-kun's honor!"

Neji activated his byakugan while turning on Naruto and Sasuke turned to glare at his teammate. "Don't encourage that dobe!"

Naruto laughed. "Come on. Let's head over for the exam."

* * *

 **A.N. I'm going to stop here. I'm gonna pick back up in the next chapter so that we can go right into the chunin exam and through a big section of it! Thanks for reading, as always! Please be sure to leave me reviews so I'll have feedback from which to improve myself. Also, if you care at all about pairings, vote on the poll on my profile so that I get a feel for how to take the story.**

 **Thanks again for reading. Hope everyone continues to be safe.**


	12. The First Exam

**A.N. Let's start the chunin exams! Thanks for reading and leaving me your reviews! I enjoy reading every one of them. I think from here on the plot is slowly going to drift more away from the canon so I hope you guys enjoy what I'm doing!  
**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…. Yet.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People speaking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal people thinking**

" **Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

" _ **Hey"**_ **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Naruto and his team walked down the stairs to move across an open training area to walk to another flight of stairs that moved up to the testing room. As they did, however, a voice interrupted them.

"Wait one second!"

The three genin turned to see Rock Lee standing on the elevated are they'd just come down from. The green clad genin jumped from the railing down and then spoke. "My name is Rock Lee. I believe you said earlier it was customary to say one's name before asking another's. What is your name?"

Sasuke smirked. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Lee smiled. "I thought so! I would like to fight you, Uchiha-san, in order to test myself against the son of a genius clan. Plus, I must impress Sakura-san!"

Sasuke smirked. "Hm … challenging me despite knowing who I am. You must be a fool. But, I'll show you what the name means."

"Please." Lee said stepping into his stance.

Naruto however stepped between the two, facing Lee. "Lee. Listen, the test starts in five minutes. I don't need you smashing in my roommate's face right before the exam."

Lee nodded. "Do not worry Naruto-san. I will make sure he can be fine during the exam."

Naruto scowled. "I'm heading ahead. I've got no interest in watching my teammate get his ass kicked by someone I trained with."

Lee grinned. "I want to fight you later as well Naruto-san!"

* * *

Naruto shook his head with a smile before walking away to get to the exam room.

Kakashi stood outside the classroom to see only Naruto approaching. "Naruto? The other two didn't come?" The jonin said in a surprised tone.

Naruto shook his head. "They're here. Sakura is cheering Sasuke on while he spars your eternal rival's clone."

Almost as if on que, Sasuke walked up with Sakura in tow sporting a bruise on his cheek.

"Get your ass kicked teme?" Naruto said. "Told you."

"Hn." Sasuke said.

Kakashi smiled. "Well. I'm glad all three of you are here. If all you weren't I couldn't let you take the test."

Sakura spoke up. "But, you said at the start of the month that it was our option!"

Kakashi nodded. "That was so none of you could pressure each other into taking the test. Now, good luck!"

* * *

Team 7 walked into the room and as they did the team was hit with a huge wave of killing intent. Sakura shook a little before brushing it off while the two boys easily brushed it off.

"Nothing even close to what Zabuza put out." Naruto muttered to his teammates who nodded grimly remembering the mission. In an unusually serious voice which his teammates had come to recognize, Naruto continued. "Keep an eye out on the dangerous ones."

His teammates nodded. Suddenly, before Naruto could continue talking, there was a loud yell.

"Sasuke-kun!" A yell came from behind Sasuke before a purple wearing blonde launched herself at the genin.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke covered Sasuke who suddenly ended up on the other side of Sakura and Ino found herself hugging Naruto.

"Awwww! Ino-chan! I didn't know you missed me that much!" Naruto said responding to the hug.

Ino frantically let go of the blond boy. "Ew! Naruto-baka! How the hell?"

Naruto just laughed as he turned to the others. "Hi Shikamaru. Choji."

The Nara and the Akimichi were slowly walking towards the group.

"Mah. Naruto, you guys are here too huh? Troublesome." Shikamaru said as his best friend stood beside him munch on chips.

"Well, obviously. Our team's going to have three chunin by the end of this thing." Naruto said grinning as he observed Sakura and Ino arguing about something and Sasuke carefully looking at the other teams.

"Yahoo! Looks like the gang's all here!" A yell came again. The rookie genin turned to see Kiba walking towards them with Hinata and Shino behind him. "Looks like no one wimped out! I'm surprised to see that the dead-last loser thinks he can compete though!"

Naruto just grinned. "Keep talking mutt. I'll make you eat those words later. Hi there Hinata-chan! Hi Shino."

Hinata turned red and let out a small eep. "Um. H-hi N-Naruto-kun!"

Kiba grit his teeth. "We'll see."

Another voice interrupted suddenly. "Hey. You guys should be a lot quieter."

The Konoha genin turned to see another Konoha ninja approaching with purple vest on a white shirt that matched his hair. The boy had round glasses and a pony tail. "You guys are the rookies this year right? This isn't a picnic you know."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Who're you supposed to be?"

The boy pushed his glasses up his nose. "My name is Yakushi Kabuto. I'm a veteran of these exams."

Sakura frowned. "So, this is your second time taking the exam?"

"No. It's my 7th time taking the exam. Look behind you at the other genin and how they're looking at you."

The genin turned to see a huge the others staring angrily and the waves of killing intent caused some of them to start shaking.

Sakura turned to see Naruto shaking. ' _That's surprising. Even Naruto's getting overwhelmed by this.'_

Before she could say anything, though, Naruto jumped on a desk and excitedly pointed at all the other people in the room. "Hey! Listen up assholes. I'm gonna kick all of your asses so you might as well get used to never being able to win."

Sakura sighed. Sasuke smirked. The other genin looked at him like a crazy person. Kabuto smiled. The killing intent got stronger and focused on Naruto who easily brushed it off and jumped off the desk.

"That problem's solved. So, Kabuto-san, what kind of information do you have?"

The boy pushed his sliding glasses up again. "I have information on any ninja that's probably here. And about countries. There are ninja from basically every country here. They all sent the cream of their crop except maybe Sound which is still pretty small time. Perhaps you want to know about someone? I can tell you all about them."

Sasuke spoke immediately. "Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee."

The older boy immediately pulled two white cards and channeled chakra into them. "Let's do Rock Lee first. He's got 12 C ranks under his belt. Not bad. 300 D ranks. His skill in ninjutsu and genjutsu isn't great but he's got amazing skill with taijutsu. His teammates are Hyuga Neji and Tenten. Strange. I don't know that girl's last name" Next, the boy pulled out another card and channeled chakra into it. "This one is Gaara. He's a rookie too so I don't have much on him. He's got 8 C ranks. Oh wow! He's got 1 B rank and he's completed every mission without any scratches on him. Impressive."

As Kabuto finished his speech, a little away, the three sound ninja moved forward.

Zaku looked at Dosu. "You hear that Dosu? He called us small time."

Dosu nodded. "Let's show that Konoha scum what small time is."

Zaku jumped up and threw two kunai at Kabuto who jumped back. As he did though, he suddenly found Dosu in his face ready to punch.

Unfortunately for Dosu, before he could move, everything became hazy for an instant, in that instant both his arms were restrained by Naruto and a kunai was held against his neck by the Sasuke.

Naruto spoke up quickly. "You guys must be some retarded fuckers. Who the fuck would go to a village and then attack one of the village's ninja without expecting some interference?"

He couldn't continue though because at that moment a big cloud of smoke enveloped the room and out of it stepped a man with a black bandana on his head, wearing a black trench coat. The man's face had various scars running across it.

"Thanks for waiting. I'm the proctor for the first exam, Morino Ibiki." The man said stepping forward as he flooded the room full of killing intent making quite a few of the genin shiver. "Genin in the back, quit messing around. You wanna fail already? Unless given permission, there will be no fighting during the chunin exams."

Naruto released Dosu who quickly walked away.

"Thanks, guys." Kabuto said nodding to the genin.

"Anyway, let's get started. Each of you come get a seat number from the proctors. That will be your assigned seat for the day. After everyone's in a seat, we'll pass out the tests."

Naruto paled as his teammates turned to look at him. ' _A paper test? Shit! I'm so bad at those.'_

After the genin were all seated and the tests were passed out, Ibiki resumed talking. "Great. Now, listen carefully, I'm going to explain the rules. No questions will be allowed."

' _No questions? That's strange.'_ Sakura thought.

"Alright. Rule number 1 is that everyone starts with 10 points. The test uses a subtraction system. Each question you miss, you'll lose a point. You fail when you hit 0 points. Rule number 2, this is a team test. If one of the team members fails, you all fail. Rule 3, anyone caught cheating will lose 2 points immediately. Anyone caught cheating 5 times will fail and their team will fail with them."

One of the proctors sitting on the side of the room leaned forward. "We have our eyes on you guys."

Ibiki continued. "Realize that anyone pathetic enough to be caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As candidates for the rank of chunin, be proud ninja. Now, any questions?"

A boy beside Sakura raised his hand. Suddenly, Ibiki threw a kunai into the desk in front of him. "You fail! Didn't I just say no questions? Team 139 get out of here."

Naruto banged his head on the table. ' _I feel like someone wants to kill me.'_ He thought as he felt Sasuke and Sakura's glares into the back of his head.

"A-are you okay, N-naruto-kun?" Came a voice beside him.

Naruto turned to see Hinata sitting there.

"Oh! Hi, Hinata-chan. Good luck. We got this."

"T-thank you."

* * *

As the test began, Naruto immediately turned to a small seal on the inside of his right wrist. He quietly channeled chakra into the seal with his left hand. ' _Sasuke? Sakura? Can you guys hear me?'_

' _Unfortunately. You'd better not fail dobe.'_ Sasuke's thoughts came into his mind.

' _Seriously Naruto. This test is a team thing.'_ Sakura's thoughts. ' _But, this seal was a great idea.'_

' _Thanks.'_

Naruto opened the test packet and looked at the first question.

' _This is impossible.'_ Came Sasuke's thoughts.

' _Yeah. I haven't got a single one of these 9. The tenth one is strange too.' So, how do we aha_

' _Really? I know all of these…'_ Came Sakura's thoughts.

The pink haired girl felt a faint twinge of respect from both boys and blushed.

' _Anyway, there has to be some trick here. There's no way most people would answer these.'_ Sasuke thought.

The boy began thinking only to suddenly have Naruto's rather loud thoughts move in. ' _IT'S ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A CHUNIN! It's about information gathering!'_

Sasuke stopped. ' _You're right, Naruto.'_

Sakura agreed immediately. ' _Great job Naruto!'_

' _How should we handle this?'_ Naruto thought as he continued pushing chakra to his seal.

Sasuke thought for a moment. ' _Sakura, you're sure you can answer these?'_

' _Yes.'_

' _There's another guy who's very sure it seems. He's rushing through the moves. I've been using the sharingan to copy his strokes as he would be writing them. I've got the answers too.'_

' _Great. So it's just me that has no idea._ ' Naruto thought.

' _Dobe. You have our thoughts here. As we write, you can hear what we're thinking.'_

Naruto subtly shook his head. ' _No. You can't write and channel chakra at the same time. I wouldn't know what you're thinking.'_

' _We can always read our answers after. That would work well.'_

Naruto thought. 'Let's do it.'

Sakura began reading her answers and Naruto quickly started writing.

Ibiki stared at the boy for a moment as the previously stopped blond suddenly began writing like a mad man. ' _How did he suddenly get the answers? He's been staring at his sheet the entire time.'_

Ibiki dismissed it and then began working on eliminating the teams that were foolish enough to get caught.

* * *

Forty-five minutes passed slowly once the team had their answers. Naruto observed the various people in the room, watching to see how they all gathered information. He first looked for the other rookies. Hinata beside him seemed to be using her byakugan to read copy a nearby test. The others also seemed to have grasped the concept of the test fairly quickly since they were all writing, though Naruto couldn't figure out exactly what they were doing.

As the 45 minute mark hit, Ibiki stood up and moved to the front of the room. "Alright maggots! It's time for the last question. Put your pencils down."

As the various members in the room sat up and prepared for it, Naruto noticed that a proctor brought in the sand ninja with the black pajamas on. ' _Odd. I didn't see him leave.'_

Ibiki nodded at Kankuro. "Good. You're back? I hope your toy was useful. Sit down. It's time for the last question."

As Kankuro moved to his seat, Ibiki turned back to the teams. "Alright. This question has completely different rules than before. You're welcome to ask questions and whatever comments you wanna make are fine."

' _New rules?'_ Sakura thought as she frowned a bit.

"For this question, you all have the option to take question. You have the option of whether you want to answer it or not." Ibiki said.

"What happens if we choose not to take the question?" Temari blurted.

Ibiki suppressed a smile. "Then you fail. Your points will all be reduced to zero and you and your teammates are done with the exam."

"Then why the hell wouldn't we take it?" A rain genin yelled.

* * *

In a completely separate room, Kakashi sat with Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai.

"Damn. It's boring without my genin. I can't even take a mission right now." Kakashi said with a sigh as he took a drink from a can of soda.

"Well, chances are that you'll be busy in a bit again." Asuma said. "Their first examiner is Morino Ibiki."

Kakashi sighed a bit. "That's a tough one. I'm surprised that sadist agreed."

"Sadist?" Kurenai asked.

"Ah! You are a new jonin so not surprise you don't know!" Gai said loudly. "Morino-san is the head of the Torture and Interrogation Unit! He specializes in mental torture."

Kurenai sighed. "That's rough."

"Meh. My team will whoop the mess out of all your teams and at least one of them should get chunin." Kakashi said shrugging.

"You wish, my eternal rival! My team shall clear this hurdle with ease. And if they cannot, I shall run 500 laps around Konoha on my hands. If I cannot do that, I will climb the Hokage Monument using only my hands!"

Kakashi pretended to clean his ear. "Hmm. Did you say something Gai?"

"Damn you and your hip attitude Kakashi!"

"I think my team will be fine. But, how about a bet?" Asuma said leaning forward.

* * *

The genin sat in the room as Ibiki bit back another chuckle. "You didn't let me finish the rules. The second rule is that if you choose to take the question and you fail, you will be stuck as a genin forever."

There was a moment of silence as Ibiki's words sunk in.

"What the hell?" Kiba yelled. "There are tons of people here who're taking the exams for their second or third times!"

Ibiki grinned. "Too bad. They didn't have me as an examiner. But, there is a way out. Those who are not confident can always forfeit now and then take the exam again during their next opportunity."

' _Shit. This is bad. If one of the team members chooses not to take it, you all fail. If you choose to take it and get it wrong, you'll be a genin forever.'_

"Now, let's begin. If you choose not to take it, please raise your hand. You and your teammates can leave as your number is confirmed."

Naruto quietly moved his hand to his seal and channeled chakra into it. ' _Thoughts?'_

' _I think we'll be fine.'_ Sakura thought into her own seal. ' _I'm confident in my ability to answer and I can always pass on the information as needed.'_

' _Agreed.'_ Naruto thought.

' _Hn.'_ Sasuke thought, hoping his grunt sounded positive.

Naruto sat back and observed as more and more teams quickly began resigning. Suddenly, though, he also noticed that the girl beside him was starting to tremble a bit.

' _Ah. Shit guys. Hinata-chan's gonna give up. I'm gonna do something.'_

' _Wait. Dobe. She's our competition. Why should we help her?'_

' _Come on teme. It's Hinata-chan. She's a leaf genin and she's super nice. We can't just leave her.'_

' _Fine. But don't mess this up.'_

Giving the Uchiha's words a mental nod, Naruto trembled a bit, before suddenly raising his hand shocking both his teammates and the shy Hyuga girl beside him.

As Ibiki turned to him and started to talk though, Naruto slammed his hand on his desk with a ferocious look on his face. "Get the hell out of here Scarface! Don't underestimate me! I'm not gonna run away! I'll take this test and then even if I'm a genin forever I'll still become Hokage! I'm not scared of your pansy scheme."

Ibiki felt a vein bulge at the nickname and at his entire test being called a pansy scheme. Still, he had to be impressed with the boy. ' _With just a few words he took away everyone's fears.'_

"I'll ask you again, punk. Your entire life is riding on this moment. Last chance to quit."

Naruto shook his head, oozing determination. "Nope. That's not my ninja way. I'm not caving in so bring it on Scarface."

' _I'm gonna murder this kid if he calls me Scarface again.'_ Ibiki thought as he observed the other students in the room. ' _Looks like there's no point in continuing this any longer.'_

Getting a nod of confirmation from one of the chunin in the room, Ibiki began. "Good decision. Now, then, everyone in this room. Congratulations. You pass the first test of the Chunin Exams!"

Again, Ibiki had to try not to laugh at the surprised expressions throughout the room.

"Wait. What do you mean we pass? What happened to the 10th question?" Sakura said with a frown.

This time Ibiki did laugh before giving the girl a wide grin. "There was no such thing. In fact in some ways, one could say that choosing to take the question at all was the 10th question."

Temari raised her hand. "So, the first 9 questions were pointless?"

Ibiki shook his head. "No. They aren't pointless. They were to test your information gathering skills. There was no way most genin would get those kinds of questions right. So, the purpose of the test was to cheat without getting caught. For that purpose we had 2 chunin in the mix to help you guys as well."

' _I got lucky. I ended up copying one of them.'_ Sasuke thought.

"But, those that cheat end up failing, because in times of war, information is more important than lives." As Ibiki said this, he took off his head covering revealing holes in his head.

' _Horrible burns, holes, and scars. He's been tortured.'_ Sasuke thought.

"Holy shit Scarface. You're even more of a Scarface than I thought." Naruto said.

' _Fucking kid. He's ruining my image!'_ Ibiki thought as genin laughed at the blond boy's comment. "Shut up brat."

"So, what's the tenth question though? I don't get it." Temari said frowning.

Suddenly the lights went off in Naruto's head. "It's to test if as a chunin you'll take on dangerous missions or tasks for the good of the village!"

"Exactly. Can you avoid a mission because your life will be over? No! Chunin are captains responsible for lives. You can't just avoid deadly missions. Those people who think they can just try again and walk away from a chance at their destiny are pieces of trash who don't deserve the rank of chunin."

Before Ibiki could continue thought, a ball burst into the window then hooked itself to the four corners of the room to reveal a woman with a tan trench coat and a fishnet dress that hand multiple men in the room have nosebleeds. The black sheet had the words "Anko Mitarashi! The Most Badass ninja in Konoha!"

"Alright maggots. Quit celebrating! It's time for the second test! Follow me!"

She was greeted with just stares though.

"Anko. You're early." Ibiki said walking around the sheet.

"Shut up." Anko said with a blush that Naruto found pretty cute. "Wait. 78? You're getting soft Ibiki! This test was too easy."

"Nah. They were just outstanding."

Anko laughed coldly. "Well. 26 teams. I'll cut them down to at least half in the next test."

' _Half? What kind of a test is this next one going to be'_ Sakura thought.

Sensing the panic building in the students, she turned to them. "Follow me to your next test location."

* * *

 **A.N. Alright! That's a wrap. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I'm even more excited for the next ones since that's where the action starts and I get to showcase team 7's skills! I hope you guys enjoyed reading the chapter and the small changes I made. I just thought it made no sense that a team trained by Kakashi wouldn't be adept at cheating and adept and communication given how much he stresses teamwork.**

 **As always, leave me your reviews and thank you so much for reading. And again, I'm looking at the poll some to get a feel for what people want. So, if you care about pairings, the poll is on my profile! See you guys next time! Hope you all stay safe.**


	13. Orochimaru!

**A.N. Hi guys! Here's chapter 13! I had an awesome time writing it and personally I think it's pretty eventful. It turned out pretty long which I was happy about too. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Thank you also for your kind reviews. They're full of great critique and encouragement that really helps me keep going!**

 **I especially want to send a MASSIVE thank you to Unholy Sight who pointed out that I had Naruto finish the leaf cutting exercise only to keep bringing it back up. I went back and fixed that so I hope that makes the story more consistent.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…. Yet.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People speaking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal people thinking**

 **"Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

 **'** ** _Hey'_** **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

 **"** ** _Hey"_** **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

The 78 genin stood outside of what seemed like an enormous forest full of strange noises.

"Alright maggots. Welcome to Training Ground 44 also known as the Forest of Death, my home away from home."

Naruto noticed the fences covered in multiple locks and chains to obviously keep something in.

"Geez Naruto. This examiner is like an older female you." Sakura said.

"Yeah. It's great." Naruto said staring at the special jonin.

"Perv." Sakura said rolling her eyes.

"Am not. I just have a healthy appreciation of the female form unlike Teme over there who prefers certain men from the Sand Village."

"Shut up Naruto!" Sasuke said glaring. "I do not like men."

"Could've fooled me." Naruto said.

Anko turned around finishing her admiring of the forest. "You'll find out soon why it's called the Forest of Death."

"As if you scare us, you crazy lady. You don't scare me. I'll ace this test." Kiba yelled pointing.

Anko gave a blood thirst grin before suddenly throwing a kunai that sliced Kiba. As he froze, he felt the crazy woman hold him and then slowly lick the blood from his cheek. "Spirited boys like you always die first and usually by spraying lots of my favorite red blood."

She froze though and pulled another kunai as a strange genin from the grass village held her other kunai with her tongue. "Here you are."

Anko smiled and took the kunai. "Thanks. But don't sneak up on me if you don't wanna die."

"Sorry. I just get so excited when I see blood and you cut my hair so I couldn't help it."

"Guys. I'm in love." Naruto muttered to his teammates. "Too bad she's too old for me. You think Iruka sensei would like her?"

Sakura started giggling, imagining Iruka with the snake mistress. "I don't know if that would work out."

Anko turned back to the genin and then started passing around sheets of paper. "Alright. Before I go over the rules, you'll need these. These are consent forms so that when you die, it won't be my fault!"

The genin all stared at the grinning special jonin.

"Well, here are the rules. This is a survival test. Around Training Ground 44 are 44 locked gates. There is a tower in the center and from the gates to the center is about 10km. In the training ground is a forest and a river that move towards the tower. During the training, you will compete in a no rules scroll battle. Each team will be assigned a scroll, a heaven scroll and an earth scroll. You must have both scrolls and arrive at the tower within 5 days."

"What about food?" Choji asked.

"You're a ninja aren't you? You can get food in the forest. Just watch out for the man-eating animals, poisonous insects and plants. Even 13 teams aren't likely to pass with the harshness of the forest and some of you will definitely die." Anko said smiling. "Now, let's talk about how to get disqualified."

She held up two fingers. "First, those who don't make it to the tower with both scrolls in the time limit fail. Second, those who lose a teammate or have their teammate killed. As a rule, you are not allowed to quit before the 5 days are over. And as a rule, don't look in the scrolls, you'll be in for a nasty surprise."

"Makes sense. Chunin are trusted with classified information so this is a test of trust." Naruto said.

"Anyway. Exchange your 3 forms for a scroll then pick a gate." Anko said before pointing at a covered booth.

"Clever. Now, we can't see what scroll other teams get." Sasuke muttered.

"One final word of advice." Anko said. "Don't die."

* * *

Team 7 stood outside their gates and in hushed tones conversed.

"What's the game plan?" Sasuke said turning to Naruto.

"It depends. How should we handle this? There's probably at least one team stronger than us. Should we rush through the exam or take it easy?"

"We have a heaven scroll. Let's just move towards the tower first and then if we encounter someone, take their scroll. If not, set up an ambush." Sakura said.

As they finished planning, they heard the signal for the exam to start and the gate was opened. The team quickly moved in.

Within seconds of moving in, there were screams.

"It's started already." Naruto said. "Listen, we're rookies. They're gonna come after us first."

"Yeah. So we should be alert." Sasuke said as he glanced around.

"One more thing." Naruto said with a serious expression. "I really gotta pee."

He turned and started to unzip his pants when Sakura smacked him. "Naruto-baka. Go do that in some bushes. Not in front of a lady!"

"Ah! Sorry Sakura-chan. I forgot." Naruto ran off into some bushes. Sasuke and Sakura waited for a few minutes then suddenly heard a scuffle before Naruto walked out of the bushes holding a body.

"This asshole jumped me while I was peeing. Like what self-respecting man does that?"

Sasuke shook his head at his teammate. "Did he have a scroll?"

"Yeah. He has a heaven scroll. Not the one we needed."

Sakura spoke suddenly. "Take it! It'll cut down on competition in the later parts of the exam and we'll have an extra scroll."

Naruto nodded before taking the scroll. "I suppose we should let him survive?"

Sasuke nodded. "No point killing when we don't absolutely have to. Let's move deeper into the forest."

The team began moving when Naruto felt like someone was behind the team. "There's someone back there." He quietly whispered to the team.

"Numbers?" Sasuke asked quietly as the team moved forward.

"Not sure. I should've had clones running around. That's a mistake." Naruto said quietly.

"Hm… It's best to preserve as much as we can as far as information. I can take all 3 if you want. If I struggle, jump in?" Sasuke said quietly pulling a kunai while Sakura moved to hide the action.

"That might work well. I can always cast the Hazy genjutsu if you get into trouble." Sakura said quietly.

"Let's do that." Naruto said and then turned. "Hey! You stalkers. Get down here and give us your damn scroll."

Three male genin jumped out of a tree and landed. They wore headbands from the hidden mist. The one that caught Sasuke's eye was the "leader" who stood in the middle. He was slightly taller than the other two and wore a sword on his back. He had green hair with similarly colored eyes and wore a tight white muscle shirt and black pants.

Beside the "leader" stood two weaker looking genin who both had kunai drawn. One of them was black haired with arm guards and a black shirt with black pants. The other had brown hair and black eyes. This genin wore a simple white shirt with loose shinobi pants.

The leader stepped forward. "Well, looks like we have some arrogant rookies. Let's show them how out scaled they are."

The three genin put out a laughable amount of killing intent which the Konoha genin found funny.

"Mah. Sasuke. They aren't even close to the last Mist ninja we fought. They're all yours." Naruto said laughing.

The leader boy frowned. ' _Mist ninja? Who the hell did they fight?'_

 _"_ Alright boys. Spread out. My name is Mitomi Akio. My teammates are Asakura Shino and Don. Might as well know who's about to kill you."

Sasuke grinned. "There's no point in you knowing my name. You won't remember it anyway."

The mist genin snarled and then the three charged. Naruto and Sakura sprung away into a nearby tree to watch the fight and provide support as needed.

Sasuke waited calmly for the first of the mist genin to reach him, which was the one introduced as Don. Don was impressively fast for a genin but not as fast as Rock Lee, who Sasuke had already seen in action.

Thus, Don's back fist was easily blocked by Sasuke, who kicked the genin away before throwing his kunai at the next closest target, Mitomi who had to stop and dodge the blade.

Sasuke then dodged a sharp punch from Shino and thought about how to handle the situation. ' _Fast and brutal. I should conserve energy during this exam.'_

Stepping forward, the Uchiha stepped into Don's next attack, dodging it swiftly while drawing another kunai. He swiftly shoved the sharp object upward into the bend of the boy's elbow before harshly slamming an elbow into his face.

"One down!" He said with a smirk facing the other two. "You could just give us your scroll and be on your merry way."

Akio wasn't having it, though. He quickly formed a few hand seals before firing a powerful water ball at Sasuke. "Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Sasuke's eyes picked up on the jutsu and conserving it for another date Sasuke dodged while throwing a kunai at the boy.

' _Hmm. I don't want to show off jutsu yet. I guess I'll have to be a bit more brutal.'_

Sasuke moved quickly forward getting into Shino's guard. There he decided that the best action was to take out the boy's legs with two kunai that were stabbed into the boy's knees, dropping the boy. Sasuke then turned just in time to dodge a kunai thrust from Akio who began fiercely assaulting the Uchiha.

Sasuke found himself pressed against the harsh assault having to block the arms. Suddenly though he punched the mist genin in the gut and grabbing his face to hold him steady, placing the boy into a sharingan induced genjutsu Kakashi'd shown him.

"Well. That ended nicely." Sasuke said turning to his teammates who jumped down.

"Yeah. Good job, teme. Now, search them for a scroll."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the order before checking the three genin and then triumphantly held up an Earth scroll. "We're done! Let's get out of here."

Naruto nodded. "Let's move towards the tower quickly. It wouldn't be good for us to be caught out with three scrolls."

* * *

The team moved towards the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death when the team suddenly felt a spike of chakra. As they stopped moving to try to recover though, a massive gust of wind hit them.

' _Shit. That's some insane power.'_ Naruto thought as he channeled chakra to his feet to try to hold himself in place. Unfortunately for him, he could not channel enough chakra to glue him down and felt himself blown away. Turning quickly, he noticed his teammates were effected similarly.

Sasuke stood up shakily from the intense wind. Standing, he drew a kunai and then channeled chakra into his seal. ' _You guys okay? I was blown to the east I think from our location.'_

' _Sakura here. Me too. I'm fine. I didn't get cut up. I think I'm near you Sasuke-kun.'_

The boy heard a rustle in the bushes from which he noticed that the pinkette removed herself.

"Oh. Thank god I found you Sasuke-kun." Sakura said with a small smile. "We need to find Naruto."

Sasuke shook his head before leveling a kunai at the girl. "How do I know you're Sakura?"

Sakura stopped. ' _I didn't think about that. The enemy might disguise themselves.'_ She hold up a hand. "Um. On our first day of training, Kakashi sensei told me I was too weak and scrawny and made me eat food I hated."

Sasuke nodded. Suddenly, the two genin heard a rustle behind them and drew kunai turning to the bushes as their teammate came out of them.

"Yo! Sasuke, Sakura. I found you guys!" Suddenly, Sasuke threw the kunai at the boy and then moved in and landed a harsh punch to his face.

The boy stumbled away before falling.

Sakura instantly moved closer to Sasuke. "What are you doing Sasuke-kun?"

"That's not Naruto. Naruto hasn't responded yet, which means that he's detained. Naruto wouldn't call me Sasuke either."

The downed "Naruto" chuckled. "Very astute Sasuke-kun." In a puff of smoke, the fake revealed himself to be the Grass ninja that the genin had observed interact with Anko.

"I'm impressed you noticed me. But, you have something I need. I have something you need." The genin said with a smile before removing an Earth scroll. Sasuke and Sakura watched in horror as the genin wrapped his tongue around the scroll before pulling it into his throat/stomach.

 **"** ** _Oh. My. God. There's so many better uses for that than eating a scroll."_** Inner Sakura thought as Sakura threw a glance at Sasuke with a light blush before forcing her eyes back to her enemy. ' _Bad! Not now. Now, we need to focus on this guy.'_

"Now." The enemy genin said with a grin before throwing a look at the Uchiha and pinkette. "Let's fight for the scrolls with our lives!"

As Sakura and Sasuke looked at the man, they were suddenly taken over with visions of their deaths. Both genin felt their heads tear off, kunai imbed themselves into their heads, and fire engulfing them.

Sasuke froze. ' _Genjutsu? No. That's fear. It's killing intent.'_ Sasuke turned and then threw up. ' _Who is this guy? This is worse than Zabuza.'_

Sasuke looked over to see his teammate shaking collapsed with tears flowing. ' _Shit she's not used to this as much as Naruto and I. We need to move before we die.'_

Sasuke pulled a kunai from his pouch as the other genin began to move. "Poor genin. You can't move any more. Die!"

Sasuke suddenly stabbed himself as the strange genin threw a kunai at Sakura and then activating his sharingan, moved to scoop up the girl and then ran into the trees.

Sakura came to her senses as the boy paused in the trees with her. "Sasuke-kun. Come here. Let me try to heal it a bit."

She channeled chakra and began healing as the boy sat focusing on finding his opponent and quickly focused chakra into his seal. ' _Naruto. Danger. We're moving from the east towards a more northward location.'_

Suddenly, Sakura yelled. "Sasuke-kun, behind."

The two genin sprung away and Sasuke turned to skewer a python coiling itself towards the boy with three kunai.

As he did though, the skin of the python split open, out of which the genin crawled out leaving a very surprised Sasuke. "You know, prey shouldn't ease up at all in the presence of a predator."

The predatory genin coiled around the tree moving fast towards Sasuke when he suddenly found himself seeing things hazily in a fluid mix of colors.

The man grinned. ' _Genjutsu of this level from what I thought was a weak little girl. How cute.'_ The snake-like man dispelled the genjutsu just in time to have a rock thrown by the girl collide with him sending him moving sideways slightly. ' _Earth Bullet too!'_

The snakelike man turned to focus on the girl to find fire flying at him from Sasuke, a thin jet of white hot flames. The snake dodged the attack by coiling to the bottom of the branch before preparing to attack again.

* * *

Naruto stood shakily as he landed from the wind attack. He stood shakily. ' _Shit that was a strong jutsu.'_

As Naruto received the thoughts from Sasuke and Sakura, he channeled chakra and prepared to respond when he heard a hiss from behind him. He turned to see a giant python that curled around the tree. It opened its mouth and attacked the blond boy who jumped out of the way. ' _Great. That's just what I need, a big fucking snake.'_

Naruto summoned three shadow clones that moved to the sides of the snake and then quickly attacked the snake. Naruto himself launched a few kunai and then flashed through a few hand seals. ' _New jutsu testing time!'_ "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The few kunai suddenly multiplied into about 30 that pierced the snake. The other clone moved closer and then quickly channeled chakra of its own to fire off a sharp blade of wind into the snake that cut it. The snake turned and quickly tried to eat the last clone hoping to finish off one of the little creature. Suddenly, it felt something puff inside before the clone exploded in its mouth, killing it.

Naruto dispelled the other clone before turning to find his teammates when he felt Sasuke's thought come through. ' _Naruto. Danger. We're moving from the east towards a more northward location.'_

Naruto quickly sent a message back. ' _On my way.'_ And was pleased to feel a positive feeling through the seal. ' _I should hurry. That's probably whoever sent that Daitoppa is a threat.'_

Naruto sprang into action to find his teammates.

* * *

Sakura grit her teeth as she felt a sweat pour down her face. Their opponent was no joke, for sure. The Konoha pair found themselves overwhelmingly at a disadvantage as the older genin easily dodged all of their attacks and blocked every combination. Sasuke's taijutsu and the fast paced attacks mixed with Sakura's subtle genjutsu and earth jutsu that sometime shifted the man or threw projectiles, caused him to occasionally let a hit slip in. But, nothing seemed solid and both of the younger genin were a little bruised and cut up despite their efforts.

Sasuke stopped and then taking some space between himself and the other genin quietly pulled out a heaven scroll. "Wait. We'll give you the heaven scroll. Just let us go and you'll have the two scrolls you need."

The boy placed the scroll on the ground and then took a few steps away. ' _I'm buying time but if he leaves, we'll still be okay.'_ The boy sent the message to his teammates.

"Ku ku ku. How cute Sasuke-kun. It is rather like the prey to bargain with the predator isn't it?" The genin said as he moved closer slowly. "But, now why should I do that when I can just kill the last Uchiha and then take the scroll."

The man suddenly began rushing in as Sasuke quickly scooped up the scroll and took steps back. Before either he or Sakura had to do much though, the grass ninja was interrupted by a blade of wind that sliced into the tree right in front of him stopping him in his tracks.

"Yo. I found you, Teme." Naruto said with a grin.

The snake-like man stood still and looked at the boy. ' _His files did not include such skill at all. Interesting.'_ "Ku ku ku. Naruto-kun. It seems that you've beaten my snake."

Naruto's eyes hardened. ' _A snake-like man who uses snakes to fight. There's no way but there's no other option.'_ "Why would someone like you be here?"

"Ku ku ku. What could you mean? This is a chunin exam. I clearly just want to advance to chunin."

Naruto shook his head. "Don't give me that bullshit. Sasuke and Sakura aren't slouches that they wouldn't have hurt a chunin level ninja more. And no chunin level ninja controls snakes, has a snake like appearance, and intense jutsu. What's Orochimaru of the Sannin doing here?"

The Sannin smiles subtly before facing the boy. "My. Who would've thought that the dead-last of all people would notice? Even more impressive Naruto-kun but don't worry I'm not here for you. I'm here to give a gift to young Sasuke-kun."

Naruto sent a signal to his teammates and then the three quickly moved into action. "Like hell you will. We won't let you."

* * *

Anko sat on a branch outside of the training area sipping on a cup of tea while munching on dango. She smiled, savoring the food and finishing it up, she threw the skewer into a nearby tree and marveled at her finished Konoha symbol. "Ah. Finished. Now, I guess I should start heading towards the tower. Some of the fast ones are probably done already."

Suddenly, a chunin appeared in front of her. "Anko-san! Please come quickly! We have a massive issue!"

Anko frowned before following the man. ' _This must be something pretty bad for him to be this panicked.'_

Anko easily panicked when she saw the bodies. ' _It's the genin from earlier. He had already taken over their bodies. I'll find you sensei. You won't survive today.'_

She turned to the chunin. "Ask Hokage-sama to send in Anbu squads. This is Orochimaru's work. I'm going to move into the forest to try to find him."

The purple haired special jonin turned and quickly took off into the forest focused on getting revenge on her former sensei.

* * *

Meanwhile, team 7 found themselves struggling to survive against the Sannin. With his identity exposed, the man was far more ruthless and vicious in his attacks. The three genin were covered in bruises and cuts and the team found themselves running from the powerful ninja and their attacks seemed to hardly phase him.

' _Guys.'_ Naruto thought into his seal as he dodged a bite from a snake the man had summoned. ' _Run. I'll hold him off.'_

Sasuke threw a kunai at the man before firing off multiple balls of fire. "Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" ' _Hell no dobe. He's after me anyway and he's not someone you can hold off.'_

Sakura quickly flashed threw a few hand seals throwing off the snake as it went for another attack with her hazy genjutsu before shooting five rocks at the Sannin. "Agreed. But, we need to do something."

Naruto grit his teeth and moved to attack when suddenly a harsh kick connected with Naruto's head sending him flying into a nearby tree head first causing him to crash into it knocking him out.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said as he moved into a series of more vicious attacks against the Sannin trying to move him away from his teammate as Sakura moved closer to the blond, still supporting Sasuke with attacks and genjutsu.

* * *

Naruto woke up in a strange sewer-like place. Standing shin deep in water, Naruto turned towards what he felt like was a darker section and began walking towards it. As he did, he found himself approaching a large open room in which there was a barred gate.

 **"Well, if it isn't my humble prisoner."** A deep rolling voice came from within the cage. **"Come closer boy. Let me get a closer look at you."** It said as a dark red eye peered out from the darkness.

Naruto edged closer. ' _Kyuubi.'_ Naruto thought as he stepped closer. Suddenly, though his sense of danger told him to jump away and the boy did just in time for a powerful orange claw slammed down where he'd previously been.

The fox roared. **"Come back here and get eaten you brat. If it wasn't for this stupid seal, I'd eliminate you."**

Naruto frowned. "That's not nice. You're living here. You ought to at least pay rent or something."

The fox chuckled. **"Why do you think you have such an intense amount of chakra or the large amount of healing capability brat? It is all thanks to my presence."**

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. That's nice. But, you could give me training or chakra or information. I mean you're supposed to be some massive chakra monster that's ancient. One would think you'd be trying to make me more adept not to die."

The beast lay its head on its paws. **"Why would I do that? In fact, I want to escape from you and this damnable cage to lay waste to the foolish village that trapped me."**

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. But if I die, you die. And we both know, I won't let you out."

The monster laughed. **"Someday, I will find a way. But, I suppose your point isn't completely without merit. Let us make a deal. Change the scenery here and give me access to your senses so I may experience the outside world."**

Naruto nodded. "And in exchange?"

 **"I will give you my knowledge and chakra as you ask for it. A fair exchange to keep you alive."**

"Deal. How do I do that?" Naruto said. "And how do I know you won't go back on our deal? Foxes are supposed to be tricksters."

The fox growled. **"I am the greatest of the tailed beasts, boy! I have my honor to maintain and I don't need to trick a brat like you for my freedom. I will earn that. Just will for things to change and they will."**

Naruto nodded before closing his eyes and focusing. The sewer slowly changed into a grassy meadow and the cage area expanded so that the Kyuubi had space to move and explore though still chained down. The seal also changed slightly.

The Kyuubi grinned. **"That's much better. Now, I believe you and your teammates are in some danger. Take some chakra and go save them."**

* * *

As Naruto was having his conversation with the fox, his teammates were having a much harder time. Sakura was caught between performing quick basic medical treatment of Naruto while trying to help Sasuke. Her chakra was starting to get low and she was definitely struggling.

' _Damn it. I didn't think I'd hate my reserves since I have such good control but I really wish I had more chakra today.'_

Sasuke was exhausted, similarly. He was struggling to protect Sakura as she tried to heal their teammate. Her help was extremely useful and the slight shifts were definitely annoying the Sannin and his snake as they attacked the boy.

Sasuke found himself cornered though by the snake and Sakura had moved to help him and found herself in a similar position. Orochimaru grinned and the snake struck to bite into the two when suddenly its mouth was punched shut by Naruto who was oozing a dangerous chakra that gave his teammates chills.

"Are you guys okay?" Naruto asked as his whiskers widened and his eyes turned red with his pupils resembling a cat's or a fox's. His canines looked extended.

' _Maybe he's got some Inuzuka in him?'_ Sakura thought before nodding. "Just a bit tired."

Sasuke nodded. "Hn."

Naruto nodded before turning and launching an attack the snake tilt and the snake Sannin to jump away. The genin quickly focused on a series of jutsu to kill the snake then turned to attack Orochimaru as he moved into another attack. The Sannin quickly moved into an attack knocking Sasuke away from his team and then turning to knock Sakura into the floor of the forest before focusing on his newest target.

' _Interesting. This is the Kyuubi boy.'_ Orochimaru thought. ' _Let's test him.'_ The man began attacking Naruto, noticing that the boy's reflexes greatly improved.

 ** _'Dodge the kick that's going to follow this punch.'_** Naruto heard in his head. He ducked under the kick and then used a quick sweep to force the Sannin back. The Sannin however, as moving much faster than he could and he felt a harsh second punch catch him from a strange angle cracking his ribs.

' _He's too fast.'_ Naruto thought before suddenly being hoisted into the air by Orochimaru who'd grabbed the boy using his tongue. The man used it to lift Naruto's shirt to see the seal.

' _Interesting. So this is the seal that the blond moron used to seal the Kyuubi. An Eight Trigrams seal that slowly channels the chakra of the monster into the boy._ ' Orochimaru thought. ' _Let's put a 5 pronged seal on that to prevent it.'_ Before he could, though, Naruto suddenly channeled wind chakra into his hand and then grabbed the tongue slicing into it and used the claws formed to slice the tongue again.

The Sannin roared in pain suddenly as the boy fell away. The Sannin delivered a much harsher kick to the boy and the quickly used his elbows to knock the boy out and then tossed him aside with ease before turning.

"Well. Sasuke-kun, I'm done playing around. Is this all you have to offer? This is all that an Uchiha has? You're disappointing compared to Itachi."

Something awoke in Sasuke as he heard his brother's name and watched his teammate tossed aside. Sasuke felt his eyes change, evolve. Everything became clearer and the memory of Itachi on that night flashed into his mind. ' _I have to win here to stand a chance against that man.'_

Sasuke charged the man while pulling 4 kunai and a small demon wind shuriken. He threw the four kunai at Orochimaru who weaved out of them. Sasuke predicted the motion though, and catching himself on a branch, he swung in a new direction and threw the shuriken at the snake Sannin who jumped over it only to have Sasuke throw an electrically charged kunai at the Sannin. The man dodged the kunai but then found himself caught between 5 wires which the boy held in his and pulled the shuriken back.

Orochimaru reacted quickly catching the shuriken in his mouth and turned triumphantly to attack the Uchiha when he noticed a tiger seal. ' _Oh.'_

' _Dragon Fire Jutsu!'_ Sasuke thought as he sent a powerful blaze down the wires engulfing the man's face.

"Got him." Sasuke said as he relaxed slightly only to see the man pull the flaming layer of skin off revealing a much sharper face with purple lining around the eyes and snake like fangs in the smile.

"Not bad at all. To think you can already use the Sharingan to such an extent. You are clearly a man who carries the essence of the Uchiha blood. Just as I thought, I want you."

Orochimaru extended an insane amount of killing intent causing the boy to freeze. "It was fun testing your powers. You really are like Itachi in that regard. I can only give this present once today so be sure to survive it."

Orochimaru formed a seal before suddenly extending his neck quickly and biting down. However, as he did, he got a completely different result. The pink haired girl on Sasuke's team moved and pushed the Uchiha out of the way, taking the bite herself which cause the girl to scream as three tomoe formed on her neck and the pain caused her to collapse.

Orochimaru frowned as Sasuke screamed the girl's name holding her and then turning to Orochimaru, a third tomoe developing in his right eye. "This is not what I wanted. No matter. For now, I will retire." With that, the man dissolved.

* * *

Anko rushed in the forest looking for the man that abandoned her when she sensed a presence behind her. Turning she threw a kunai. "Orochimaru. It's time to die."

The man dodged the next volley of senbon that the girl sent at him with a smooth move while using his tongue to grab the girl only to have the girl send a series of snakes up his tongue. Anko then used the leverage provided to throw the Sannin into a tree.

Orochimaru shortened his tongue quickly though which pushed him into his former student slamming her into a tree. The girl however flipped the two then stabbed their hands together into a nearby tree.

"Got you." Anko said before grabbing their other hand forcing them into a series of hand seals. "Do you recognize this, scumbag?" ' _Ninja Art: Double Snake Assassination.'_

However, the jutsu failed as the clone dissolved into a pile of mud leaving Anko with her hand stabbed into the tree.

"Suicide Anko-chan? You really shouldn't be using my forbidden technique as a special jonin of the leaf."

Anko dropped to her knees as the man facing her activated her cursed seal. "Why are you here? Are you here to assassinate Hokage-sama?"

The Sannin laughed. "Hardly. I came for some more pawns for that. Sadly, I gave the cursed seal to a different genin than the one I planned but she'll be just as useful."

Anko growled. "You're a sicko. Your selfishness is going to result in that child's death."

"Jealous? There's a 1 in 10 chance of survival so who knows. She isn't the piece I wanted but she'll prove a good tool. I wanted the Uchiha but got his teammate. I'll still aim for my preferred vessel."

Orochimaru moved closer and kneeled in front of Anko using her hair to pull her face up. "Do not stop this exam prematurely Anko or I will have to end the leaf. Three of my cute genin are members in this exam and I want to see them succeed."

With that the man vanished.

* * *

Sasuke sat in a hidden area of the forest under a hollow in a tree with a kunai drawn. He'd gotten a wet rag on Sakura's head and focused on keeping both his teammates alive. ' _Well. I never thought I'd need medical jutsu. I should've paid some attention to Iruka-sensei during those lecture.'_

Grimly he looked at the long pink haired girl who'd sacrificed her own well-being for himself and kicked himself for being weak. ' _I used to hate her for being such a fangirl. She's so different now.'_

The boy gave a light smirk before turning to continue keeping watch, fighting off sleep.

* * *

In a nearby tree, three ninja sat and watched the boy.

"That's him Dosu. Looks like both his teammates are down." Zaku said from his perch. "Let's wipe him out."

Kin standing nearby smirked. "It should be easy."

Dosu stared quietly. "Indeed."

The three jumped out of their hiding place and began approaching the boy who by now had noticed them and drawn a kunai.

"You guys." Sasuke said.

"Uchiha. We want to fight you. A test if you will." Dosu said as he pulled his sleeve back.

"Another test?" Sasuke said as he grit his teeth. "You aren't working for Orochimaru are you?"

The three sound genin froze. ' _What? He encountered Orochimaru-sama?'_

Sasuke pointed the kunai at the ninja. "Talk. He tried to give me some kind of mark. Why? He got my teammate."

Zaku stepped forward. "We can't let any of them live after hearing that Dosu. Let's get him."

The three began stepping closer when they suddenly triggered a series of traps. One dropped a huge log from above while another shot kunai from various angles at the sound ninja.

The trap did little though. The log was easily broken by Dosu and Zaku blew away the kunai before charging in. Before they could get far though, a suddenly yell and a brutal spinning kick blew the three back.

"Hello Sasuke-san. I see you are in trouble and it would be most unyouthful of me to leave a fellow Konoha shinobi to survive alone." Lee said standing with his stance as he prepared to fight.

"Thanks Lee." Sasuke said as he stood beside the boy.

"Protect your teammates. I promised Sakura-san that I would protect her so I will handle them." Lee said before springing forward.

"Wait Lee!"

Dosu charged Lee. "You can handle the Uchiha after I finish this punk Zaku."

Dosu jumped into the air and moved to slam his fist into Lee when Lee punched into the ground and pulled up a huge root to block the attack.

"I will not dodge your attack. It is far more effective to just block." Lee said as he unwound his bandages.

' _He did that before. When we fought before the chunin exams.'_ Sasuke thought.

Dosu moved to fight the boy when he suddenly vanished with a hand seal. The sound ninja paused when he noticed the green clad boy suddenly under him and then received a devastating kick throwing him into the air. Lee jumped into the air behind Dosu and using the bandages wound him.

"Take this!" Lee yelled as he inverted the boy and then in a fast powerful spiral dropped him into the ground before leaping away and then falling to his knees. "Primary Lotus!"

However, the boy noticed that the man had landed in a pile of soft sand generated by a powerful wind blast Zaku used.

Dosu stood from the attack and then quickly moved with a counter attack. "That hurt! Now it's my turn"

Lee blocked the punch. ' _I can't move yet.'_ Suddenly, the world in front of Lee moved and the boy stumbled and then threw up as blood dripped from his ears.

"I'm a sound ninja. Now, die!" The man moved for another attack when a slightly different whirlwind like Lee had used earlier hit him.

"Sorry Lee." Sasuke said as he landed the hit. "I stole your technique."

Lee shook his head panting. "Not a problem. Thank you for your assistance. I am sorry I was not more useful."

Sasuke shook his head. "It was one on three. I should've provided support. You're hurt. I'll take them on."

Lee nodded before fainting.

The three sound genin grinned before preparing another attack when suddenly they found that the three couldn't move.

"Shadow Possession successful." Shikamaru said as he and his team crawled out a bush.

"We're here to save you Sasuke-kun!" Ino said with a proud smile. ' _Take that forehead! While you're passed out, I'll get Sasuke-kun's love.'_

Ino pointed her seal and quickly launched her spirit into the sound girl. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Shikamaru released his control of the three as Ino in Kin's body drew a kunai and held it to the girl's throat.

"Alright. Surrender and give us your scroll or I'll kill the girl."

Zaku just grinned and then fired a blast of air at the girl slamming her into a nearby tree.

Kin coughed up blood and Ino bled a bit.

"Foolish." Dosu said. "We don't care about the girl or passing this test. Our goal is the death of Uchiha Sasuke."

Shikamaru signed as the team pulled back and Ino freed herself from the girl returning to her own body.

Sasuke stood and moved forward to fight when another voice interrupted.

"This is pathetic." A voice came from a nearby tree revealing Neji and Tenten. "You're just amateurs. You shouldn't need to pick on second rate ninja then brag. You made a mistake knocking out our teammate. You're going to pay for that." The Hyuga said activating his eyes. Then, though he stopped.

"Though. Perhaps I don't need to."

Sasuke and the other genin in the area froze as a dark chakra covered the area. They turned to see Sakura standing with purple chakra surrounding her and strange black marks covering her skin.

"Sasuke-kun." She said eerily as she turned. "Who did that to Lee?"

Sasuke turned. "Sakura! You're fine!" The boy said relieved.

"It was them right?" Sakura said as she advanced on Dosu and Zaku.

' _That's insane chakra. This is Orochimaru-sama's.'_ Dosu thought.

"Nothing to be scared of Dosu. I'll blow that ugly bitch away." Zaku said before firing off a massive blast of wind from both his arms at once.

The blast cleared a huge area. Sasuke moved quickly out of the way grabbing Lee. ' _Shit Naruto. I hope that work you up.'_

"Blew her away." Zaku said with a grin.

"Who?"

The boy froze noticing the girl behind him who punched him away before throwing kunai.

"I'll blow those away too." The boy prepared to blow them back when he suddenly noticed the girl forming seals and the world became a meshed haze.

The kunai piercing his arms brought him out of the genjutsu just in time for him to realize he was on his knees with the pinkette's foot on his back and both arms pulled back.

"So you're proud of these arms." The girl said. Then with a vicious snap she pulled the arms out their sockets and broke one of the boy's shoulder blades making the boy let out a blood curling scream.

"There. That problem is solved. Now it's your turn." Sakura said turning to Dosu. Suddenly, though she found herself face to face with Naruto.

"Holy shit a lot happened when I was passed out." Naruto said. "You need to chill Sakura!"

The girl regarded him coldly. "Move Naruto. You've already done enough. I'll handle these fools."

Sasuke grabbed the girl by the shoulder and pulled her to face him. "No." He looked into her eyes. "Sakura stop. That's not you."

The two stared at each other for a moment before the chakra and the marks receded on Sakura who looked like all of her actions suddenly dawned on her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she hugged the Uchiha survivor tight.

Sasuke, very uncomfortably, hugged the girl back. "It's okay. Come on. Let's go sit over there. Naruto, we'll leave it to you."

Naruto nodded. "Hey. Give us your scroll ugly." The blond said turning to Dosu who nodded and placed an earth scroll on the ground.

"You are strong. I will not fight there." The boy said before retreating with his two teammates.

Naruto held up the Earth Scroll the boy had placed. "We already have our two scrolls. Do either one of your teams still need a scroll?"

Shikamaru nodded. "We need a heaven one."

Naruto tossed him the extra. "Thanks."

"We'll take the earth one." Tenten said. Naruto tossed her the scroll before turning to look at his teammates. Sakura was talking to Ino who was helping her cut her hair. ' _Strange time for that.'_

Sasuke was sitting tiredly against a nearby tree. Tenten woke Lee and the team bid their farewells as Naruto moved to Sasuke.

"What happened after I passed out?" Naruto said.

Sasuke related the story to the boy. "Sorry Naruto. I didn't do a great job protecting her."

Naruto gave the boy a strange look. "Are you stupid? It's not your fault that you lost to a Sannin or that she risked her life. She's always loved you."

Sasuke shook his head quietly. "She was a fangirl."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah. She's different. Come on. Let's get to the tower."

* * *

 **A.N. Well. I think I'm gonna stop here and pick up in the next chapter with the Preliminaries! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's by far my longest chapter and I had an awesome time writing it. As always, please be sure to leave me your suggestions and comments and feedback. I always love seeing what you guys have to say.**

 **I hope you guys stay safe and healthy. See you next time!**


	14. Preliminaries Begin!

**A.N. Alright! This is gonna be another fairly long chapter because I want to get in a good bit of stuff going on. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. I loved the feedback I got on the last chapter and I'm so happy with this part of the story that I'm just extremely excited to crank out more content. I hope you guys like it.**

 **The pairings poll has given me some results. Last I checked, it looks like there is a tie going on. So, again, if you care about it, go vote! I think I have an idea of how I'm going to approach the pairings and which pairing to go for, but your input will give me a better feel of what you all want.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…. Yet.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People speaking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal people thinking**

" **Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

" _ **Hey"**_ **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Team 7 arrived at the tower in the middle of the forest with two days to spare. To ensure that no one else hunted them, Naruto had sent 40 teams of clones disguised as team 7 and the clones served as a great distraction and 4 teams even took down other teams to lower the competition for the next exam. Sasuke was fairly exhausted from his night awake and Sakura's chakra seemed to be in a funk so Naruto decided protecting them would be his duty.

' _I got knocked out before in the fight against Orochimaru twice. If I was stronger, Sakura would still be able to use her chakra and teme wouldn't have had to stay up all night. I need to train harder.'_

The genin arrived at their designated gate and moved inside the tower. In the room was a wide open area with railings and a single door. On a nearby wall sat a poster which had some kind of a quote with a words missing.

The team read it quietly.

"I think we should open the scrolls." Sakura said reading it. "It's focused on the words "heaven" and "earth"."

Naruto nodded. He and Sasuke moved apart and then unrolled the scrolls at the same time.

Naruto's training with seals immediately warned him about what the emblem on the scrolls was. "Toss it away Sasuke!"

The boys both threw the scrolls which pulled together forming an "X" which landed and then were enveloped in a cloud of smoke.

"*cough*. Way too much smoke." A familiar voice said from inside the smoke. The genin tensed before relaxing as from their cloud came their old sensei.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled excitedly before feeling a twinge of sadness. ' _Ah. It's been so long since we've spent any time together.'_

Iruka gave Naruto a look of understanding. "Hi! I'm glad you guys made it! With two days left too. Excellent job guys. But, you guys look exhausted."

The three genin nodded as Sasuke and Sakura sat down while Naruto who seemed fairly energetic still nodded. "Are the other Konoha genin back?"

Iruka nodded. "Teams 8, 9, and 10 all made it safely."

Naruto grinned. "Cool. But, we have an issue sensei." His eyes turned serious. "We need to get Sakura back to the Hokage or someone. We had a fight with Orochimaru of the Sannin and he tried to place come kind of a seal on Sasuke but got Sakura instead."

Iruka immediately panicked. "We knew he got someone but we weren't sure who. Anko just reported back. Let's get you three to the Hokage's office right now."

* * *

The three genin quickly found themselves ushered to the Hokage's office where they found a room with various jonin like Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Ibiki, Shikaku Nara, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza. On a couch nearby, Anko was sleeping with a wet rag on her forehead.

The Hokage was working on paperwork with a grave look on his face and as soon as the genin walked in the old man's weary face grew slightly perplexed. Even Kakashi seemed fairly surprised. Beside the Hokage, Naruto aw a tall man with long white shaggy hair. The man wore bright red clothes and gave him a small smile.

"Man old man. You look even older than you did before." Naruto said to the Hokage with a small grin as his female teammate lightly smacked him.

The old man smiled. "Well perhaps you will be able to take this work of my hands soon. But, in the meantime, what brings you genin here?"

Naruto turned quizzically to his teammates who seemed to nudge him to talk. Turning back he spoke up. "We ran into Orochimaru."

The Hokage face became extremely serious as Anko sat up and Kakashi moved forward towards his students.

Naruto continued seriously. "We fought him for a while and he knocked me out first so I can't really continue."

"I'll take over." Sasuke said before describing in detail what happened after Naruto was incapacitated. "He froze me with insane killing intent and then tried to give me some kind of a mark. Sakura shoved me out of his way and took the mark herself. We also found out that Orochimaru is the leader of the Sound Village."

Kakashi was already moving the girl's neck to observe the mark. "This is the Heaven Cursed Mark. The same one you have Anko."

Sakura turned surprised to look at the purple haired special jonin who muttered. "I'm surprised the girl survived."

Sarutobi stood and he and the man beside him moved to observe the seal. "What are your thoughts?"

"We could probably seal it up. She would have a day or two to rest before the next part." The man said with a frown.

The Hokage turned to the assembled jonin, focusing in on Kakashi. "Opinions?"

Kakashi turned to his student before turning back to the Hokage. "I could seal it up and with help it would be even easier for her to recover. I think with the seal, she could continue to fight. I trust Sakura not to succumb."

The aged Hokage turned again. "Anko? You are the only person in this room to have dealt with the mark."

"I never received the seal so I cannot testify if sealing the cursed mark would be that effective. The cursed seal eats away at your mind and slowly breaks your will as you desire more and more power. But, if it is possible, I would allow her to compete."

The Hokage turned to the pink haired girl. "It seems Sakura-chan that your fellow shinobi place faith in your ability to continue. I will have your sensei and my student seal the cursed mark. Then, you will have a day to rest and we'll move to the next part of the exam."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you."

Sarutobi smiled. "I also must commend you on throwing yourself into the way of your teammate. You have foiled the plan of a very powerful enemy of Konoha."

Sakura gave a smile to the Hokage and bowed. "I figured I couldn't let a pedophile get my teammate."

The people in the room laughed as Sasuke shuddered and Naruto turned to the girl with a scowl. "That was gonna be my joke damn it."

The Hokage turned to Sasuke. "You did well in keeping your teammates safe and keeping yourself out of the hands of the enemy. He was likely pursuing the sharingan. My old student had a fetish for learning as many jutsu as possible. Keeping it away is good."

The boy nodded and bowed. "Thank you."

Naruto however was no longer smiling. "Um. I have more to add."

The people in the room turned to the boy who looked a little scared yet brave. "While we're talking about seals, I uh, may have slightly altered mine."

The older people in the room immediately blanched leaving very confused genin and Anko to wonder what was the blond was talking about.

The Hokage looked like he was going to have a fit. "You did what?!"

Naruto held up his hands. "Well. I can explain and it's not too big a deal."

The white haired man standing beside the Hokage moved forward, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "Calm down sensei. I'll take a look."

Suddenly things clicked for the genin in the room. "Holy shit! You're Jiraiya of the Sannin!" Naruto yelled pointing. "You're the legendary seal master that trained the Fourth!"

The genin stared at the man who boomed with laughter. "That's right brat! I am the legendary sage of Mount Myobokugama, the toad Sannin and author of the _Icha Icha Paradise_ books."

Naruto stared at the man. "Wait. You're the pervert who wrote those? I'm having such mixed feelings."

The man rolled his eyes. "What would a kid like you know? Anyway, let's look at the seal."

"Erm. Actually, can I explain about the seal to my teammates? They don't know."

The man nodded and the Hokage spoke to Sasuke and Sakura. "What you two, and you Anko, are about to learn is an S rank secret for Konoha. You may not disclose it to anyone without the express permission of Naruto."

The three nodded and Naruto began his explanation. "So. You guys have all heard the story of how the Fourth Hokage killed the Nine Tailed Fox on October 10th right?"

The three nodded.

"Yeah. That story isn't true. You can't kill something as strong as the Fox. It's basically an entity of chakra. Because he couldn't kill it, he sealed it into living container. He couldn't seal it into just anyone. He had to seal it into something that has chakra coils that aren't developed. He had to seal it into a new born."

Naruto stopped talking as he saw the look of realization dawn on the three shinobi he was explaining to.

Anko understanding stepped back and lay down again, her cursed seal still aching.

"That's why adults hate you." Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah."

"Though the pranks probably didn't help you, Naruto. Geez." Sakura said rolling her eyes.

"You guys don't hate me?" Naruto said tentatively.

"Of course not! You're our teammate, you idiot!" Sakura said glaring.

"I dunno. Pretty sure I hate him. I hate you less now that you don't wear that orange nightmare." Sasuke said.

"Haha Teme. You're so funny." Naruto said with a dead pan before smiling at his teammates. He turned back to the Hokage. "So, during my fight with Orochimaru, I was knocked into a tree knocking me out. During that time, I contacted the Kyuubi and sorta made a deal with him."

The Hokage looked like he was going to have a heart attack now. "You made a deal with the Nine Tailed Fox?"

"Yeah. I pointed out that his not helping me would probably suck for him since if I die, he dies. So, he agreed to share his knowledge with me and give me chakra as a rent in exchange for making my mindscape look nicer and giving him access to my senses. He can also talk to me and I can talk to him now."

"And he's not trying to get out?" Kakashi asked.

"He said he's definitely gonna keep trying to get out. But, he also said he won't break his word or trick me. He said he'd get out honorably."

The Hokage sighed. ' _God. I really wish Minato was here to handle this.'_

Jiraiya stepped forward. "Lift up your shirt kid. Let me take a look at the seal."

Naruto pulled his shirt up and channeled some chakra to his feet.

Jiraiya looked at the seal for a few seconds before moving away. "It's still just as tight as it was before. It's not much looser and it'll hold the Kyuubi in."

The Hokage sighed with some relief. "Wonderful. Now, I think you've had enough for the day. Sakura please go with Kakashi and Jiraiya. They will seal up the cursed mark. Naruto and Sasuke, Iruka will show you where you can rest for the next day."

* * *

The genin gathered in an open room lining up to be addressed by the Hokage. As the ninja gathered, they noticed that their sensei were all in the room, in raised platforms on both sides of the room. In front of the genin stood the Third Hokage with the various test proctors and other jonin. Behind the Hokage there was a large statue of two hands forming a ram hand seal. Beside the statue on the wall were two large screens.

Anko stepped forward and looked at the genin gathered. ' _To think that 21 out of 78 would pass. I was expecting in the single digits.'_

"Alright genin. Congratulations on passing the second test. Now, the Hokage will step forward and explain to you the next test."

The Hokage stepped forward, glancing at his jonin. ' _For all of the rookies to have made it is impressive. No wonder they nominated the ninja.'_

Sarutobi looked out at the gathered genin. "Before I explain the third exam, I'd like you to understand the purpose of this exam. The purpose of this exam is to act as a replacement for war among the allied countries."

The genin's shock was visible on their faces and the old man continued. "It was created to prevent wasteful fighting, the Chunin exams were invented."

"What the hell does that have to do with us?" Kiba called from the gathered genin. Kurenai face palmed before muttering "I really need to teach him some better manners."

"This exam is indeed to determine whom of you will become chunin. But, it also shows prestige. The final part of the exam has nobles and powerful people from many places who will come and observe you. The strength of the countries will be shown by your strength and that country will be the one to receive more clients here on. It will also act as a symbol of power for enemies."

"What's the point of risking our lives in battle?" Kiba called back.

Iruka sighed. ' _Time to grow up.'_ The man thought looking out at the gathered genin, especially at his "little brother".

"Remember this well. The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. A shinobi's true strength is born only through life risking battles."

The gathered genin solemnly watched.

' _Damn. All the Hokage have some sick quotes. I'm writing that down.'_ Naruto thought.

"This is a life risking test with your fate on the line. Please remember that. Before I explain the next portion, though, there is something else." Sarutobi said.

"Please allow me." A sickly genin said moving forward and bowing. The man looked very sickly with dark circles and his sentences were frequently punctuated with coughs.

"Hello. I am Gekkou Hayate. Before we can have the third test, I would ask for you all to do one more thing. We need to have a preliminary for the main exam."

"Preliminaries?" Ino asked raising her hand.

"There are a few too many people this year sadly. The people coming to see the main event don't have time for too many matches. We will start the preliminaries immediately."

' _Right now?'_ Shikamaru thought. ' _Troublesome.'_

"If you do not have time the ability to continue, please raise your hand. Your decision to retire will not affect the team."

Naruto noticed Kabuto raise his hand. "I give up. I just got here and I'm exhausted."

Hayate nodded and wrote the boy's name down. ' _Hmm. That's suspicious.'_

Kabuto nodded to his teammates before walking away. ' _Hm. I do not have purpose. Orochimaru-sama is here. I do not need to observe further.'_ The boy made eye contact with the Sound "jonin" before leaving the building.

"Anyone else? No? Great. There are 20 of you. That'll be 10 one on one matches, the winner of which will continue to the next part of the exam. Let's begin. Everyone except those whose names were called please head into the stands."

The screens suddenly generated two names. "Uchiha Sasuke vs Akado Yoroi"

"Right away huh?" Sasuke muttered.

"Watch him Sasuke. He's with Kabuto from earlier. He's experienced." Naruto muttered before heading to the stands.

Sakura nodded at Sasuke before walking away.

Sasuke faced off against his opponent. ' _Let's end this as quickly as possible.'_

Hayate waited as both fighters squared off. "Both fighters ready?"

Receiving an affirmative from both fighters, Hayate issued the order to start. "Hajime!"

* * *

Yoroi immediately began by throwing three shuriken at Sasuke who deftly sent all three flying back by slicing them back with a kunai. Immediately following, the boy activated his Sharingan and moved closer to the other boy engaging him in a taijutsu fight.

As Sasuke blocked various attacks from his opponent, he noticed the boy's hands had a faint tint of chakra and every connection the boy had near or directly with him, the boy seemed to gain chakra and Sasuke had his own drain slightly.

' _He's stealing my chakra!'_ Sasuke thought before springing away while throwing shuriken at the boy.

Creating some distance Sasuke glanced up to see Lee standing near Naruto. "Lee!" Sasuke yelled. "I copied one of your techniques earlier in the Forest. May I use it?"

Gai hearing the interaction smiled. "How youthful of your student to ask for permission before blatantly copying a movement Kakashi! Perhaps unlike you, he will embrace the power of youth!"

Kakashi gave Gai a blank look. "Did you say something Gai?"

"Damn you and your hip attitude Kakashi!"

Lee looked surprised by the question. He gave a big smile and a thumbs up. "Of course my rival! Good luck!"

Sasuke nodded and then focusing he charged his opponent. As he got closer, he formed a hand seal causing Yoroi to tense. Then, he disappeared from Yoroi's sight.

Yoroi froze as he lost sight of the Uchiha to suddenly notice the boy below him. Sasuke delivered the same harsh kick he'd seen before to Yoroi's jaw knocking him into the air and then jumped into the air behind the boy.

' _Leaf Shadow Dance. He copied it from Gai's clone.'_ Kakashi thought.

"That was copied. But, from here on, It's all me." Sasuke placed two fingers into the small of Yoroi's back and then pushing off him, sent a kick to the left side of his opponent's body.

Yoroi grinned as he blocked it. "Heh. Not enough punk."

Sasuke however didn't slow down and then turned to slam his fist into the boy knocking him downward.

"Not enough." Kakashi said dead pan as Sasuke followed the first attack with another punch to the boy's stomach.

"There's more!" He yelled as he swung around and delivered a final brutal kick into the boy slamming him harshly into the concrete flooring, cracking it. "Shishi Rendan!"

Sasuke fell away from the attack skidding and then shakily stood.

Hayate checked the unconscious boy and then gave the Uchiha a small smile.

"Akado Yoroi is unable to fight now. Uchiha Sasuke is the winner of the first round."

Sasuke smiled as his teammates and fellow Konoha genin cheered. He jumped up to his team.

"Lee. That was an amazing technique. My body could barely stand using it. You've used it twice now in my presence. I'm really impressed."

Lee smiled as he shook a bit. "I am impressed that you learned it so fast. You truly are a genius."

Gai watched his student shake. ' _Mastering any part of the Lotus without intense training takes an incredible amount of talent. He's exactly like you at that age Kakashi.'_

* * *

As the medics moved the collapsed Yoroi from the floor, the boards on the wall flashed and then displayed two new names.

"Alright. Aburame Shino vs Zaku Abumi. Please come down."

Zaku grinned. "Hmph. Some no name loser. I've got this one in the bag."

The boy jumped down as Shino casually walked down with his hands in his pockets.

Sakura watched both boys with a nervous look. ' _It's my fault that he's only got one arm. Is he really going to fight like that?'_

Naruto turned to a nearby Kiba. "Who do you guys think will win?"

Kiba nodded at his teammate. "Shino's got this. He's one guy even I don't want to fight."

Naruto nodded and returned his attention to the fight.

Shino regarded his opponent calmly. "Forfeit. You cannot beat me without your arms."

Zaku raised one arm slowly. "Heh. This one works just fine." With those words, the sound genin rushed the ninja and tried to strike with a slap like motion.

Shino easily blocked it. "You cannot beat me with just one arm either."

"Shut up!" Zaku said growling before he opened his palm revealing a small hole. "Take this! Zankuuha!"

From the boy's arm went a large blast of air which sent Shino tumbling. Shino stood up slowly to reveal his face falling apart with some kinds of insects inside.

' _Bugs? Under his skin?'_ Zaku thought before turning to see a large number of insects crawling towards him.

"Those are destruction bugs. They attack prey in large numbers and eat their chakra. You're finished. If you don't want that, give up. If you attack me with your left arm, they will get you. If you attack them with your arm, I will still get to you." Shino took a step forward. "Both ways you will fail. In a fight, one must always have a trump card!"

"Don't mess with me!" Zaku yelled overwhelmed by his emotions, recalling how Orochimaru had given him purpose. "You want a trump card? Take this!"

The boy lifted his other arm suddenly and aimed for both sides. He channeled chakra and prepared to fire when suddenly, both his arms exploded tearing them off at the elbow. From the fallen limbs, insects crawled out shocking everyone present.

The boy turned just in time for Shino to punch him knocking him down.

Gekkou stepped forward. "This fight is over. Winner Aburame Shino."

Lee turned to Neji. "What is he?"

Neji activated hi byakugan to look at the boy before turning back to his teammate in surprise. "I thought he was summoning bugs but they're living inside of him. It is likely he's a member of the Aburame clan. He probably used those bugs to plug up the air holes so that the chakra backed up and then exploded outwardly."

* * *

 **A.N. Alright. I'm going to stop there for this chapter and then spend the next chapter finishing up the prelims! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'm looking forward to reading your responses to it. Thanks again for reading and reviewing. It really means a lot that people appreciate what I'm doing.**

 **Hope you guys are all staying safe! Best of luck with your endeavors.**


	15. Preliminaries end!

**A.N. Hello again! I'm excited to continue writing this story. I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot so I hope you guys all enjoy it.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I really want to though.**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People speaking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal people thinking**

" **Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

" _ **Hey"**_ **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

As Shino returned to his place with his team, the boards on the wall flashed two new names onto the wall.

"Alright. Tsurugi Misumi vs Kankuro. Come on down."

Naruto observed both boys carefully. ' _One of them is from Kabuto's team. The other one is on the same team as the redhead guy.'_

The Suna ninja smiled as he moved down whereas the other man was focused.

"Hajime!" The proctor called as soon as both boys were ready.

"Unlike my teammate, I have no mercy for weakling rookies. I suggest you just give up and get out of here kid."

Kankuro just grinned. "Bring it. I'll end it quickly." Kankuro said removing the huge white thing he had on his back.

Misumi rushed the boy and struck with a forearm strike. Kankuro blocked the attack only to find that the arms of the leaf genin moved around his arms bending in a strangely flexible way. Soon Kankuro was constricted completely by the leaf ninja.

"Give up or I'll keep constricting till I break all your bones." Misumi said as he tightened around the sand ninja.

"Like hell I will. Who's gonna lose to some weakling like you."

Misumi tightened incredibly and with a massive snap, broke Kankuro's neck.

"Stupid brat. You made me kill you."

Suddenly, Kankuro's head turned 180 degrees. "My turn!" Naruto noticed that the boy's eye was strange and wooden.

Many arms shot out of "Kankuro's" side and wrapped around the other boy and various pieces of paper fell off revealing a large wooden doll.

"This is a puppet?" Misumi yelled in confusion. The fallen doll thing Kankuro was holding earlier had its bandages fall away to reveal Kankuro standing unhurt with Chakra strings connected to the doll now wrapped around Misumi.

"I'll go easy on your neck, but I'm gonna break your bones so you're nice and soft." Kankuro said with a blood thirsty grin before tugging on the strings.

' _Thank god. I almost ended that way too quickly.'_

"Alright. This fight cannot continue. Kankuro wins." Hayate announced.

Naruto turned to his sensei. "Is that allowed? It's almost like a 2 on one thing."

Kakashi shook his head. "He's controlling the puppet. It's in the rules for you to use Jutsu. Suna is famous for their puppeteers."

"Geez. There are a bunch of weirdos here." Naruto muttered to which his female teammate responded by laughing.

"Like you're one to talk dobe." Sasuke said rolling his eyes.

"Fuck off teme."

"Mah. You two. Quit arguing." Kakashi said then pointed at the board, distracting the giggling Sakura from her teammates.

"Yamanaka Ino and Hyuga Hinata. Please come down." Hayate called.

Ino and Hinata walked down together.

' _Hm. Watch me impress Sasuke-kun, forehead. He'll be all mine after this fight.'_ Ino thought as she faced Hinata. ' _Hyuga taijutsu was always impressive but I was better in the Academy. Nothing's changed since.'_

"Hinata, you might need to surrender." Ino called to the shy girl.

"N-no thank y-you, I-ino-san." The shy girl called. ' _This is my chance to impress Naruto-kun.'_

Hayate held his arm between them and then raised it while calling, "Hajime."

Ino immediately launched forward, throwing out a punch at the Hyuga girl who swiftly broke Ino's stance with a foot and then struck quickly hitting 5 chakra points (tenketsu) in the girl's shoulders and arm.

Hinata then moved again striking four more times closing more chakra points in Ino's arms before stepping away.

"P-please surrender I-Ino-san. I have c-closed your c-chakra points." Hinata said timidly remaining in her stance.

Ino winced the pain down before throwing a kunai at Hinata which the blue haired girl dodged. ' _Shit. Hinata got way stronger. I have to take her down."_

Sakura looked on sadly watching her former rival unable to do much. "She hasn't trained at all."

"Fangirls." Sasuke said, his disgust vaguely contained.

"At least she's trying?" Naruto said.

Nearby Asuma was shaking his head as Kurenai was giving him a lecture about his lack of training. "What have you been teaching her? She's scrawny and weak!"

"It's not my fault. All she cares about is her looks and boys."

Ino was struggling even more. Quickly, Hinata had struck more points leaving the blond girl unable to fight.

"Damn it." Ino said holding back her tears of embarrassment. "I give up."

Hinata nodded and returned to her team happy that they were cheering. She glanced at Naruto as she returned to stand beside her team.

Naruto noticing that the girl looked his way gave her a big smile and held a thumb up. This action, though, caused the girl to turn bright red and faint right into Kurenai's arms.

"Hmm. I thought she didn't get hurt at all. Looks like she was just holding on." Naruto said in a confused tone causing Sasuke to snicker and Sakura to giggle.

"Naruto. You're so dense." Sakura said before turning to notice that her "rival" had returned to her place with her team sitting quietly holding her head down. "Do you think I should go talk to her?"

Naruto shook his head. "I wouldn't want my rival talking to me after I just lost. But, if Sasuke were to go, I'm sure that'd cheer her up. Her crush giving her encouragement would probably be really nice right now."

Sasuke vehemently shook his head. "Hell no. I'm not encouraging any fangirl. No way in hell. That'll give her false hope and she'll haunt me forever."

Naruto burst out laughing as Sakura gave the boy one of her rare scowls. "Watch out Teme. You're gonna get one of Sakura-chan's traditional punches that I normally get."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Why don't you talk to her dobe?"

Naruto shook his head. "What's the point of a dead last who hasn't won a match today talking to her? Maybe I will after I win my match."

Sakura nodded. "If Sasuke won't and I shouldn't, you should."

Kakashi suddenly leaned forward. "You three are surprisingly chatty today. But, perhaps we should pay attention to the match?"

Naruto looked down to see Tenten, Lee's teammate fall on the sand girl, Temari's fan. Around the pair were hundreds of weapons scattered around.

"Damn what did we miss?" Naruto asked.

"She's a wind style user. Gai's student is a weapons expert but none of the weapons broke the powerful gusts that girl generated with the fan she's holding. She's not like you Naruto. She pushes more instead of cutting."

Naruto nodded absorbing the information and noticed his teammates were doing likewise. The pair continued to look down to see the blond girl give a vicious smile before using the fan to throw the unconscious girl into a nearby wall as Hayate announced her the winner.

Suddenly the girl landed in Lee's arms who'd jumped down to catch the girl. He gave her a tender look and then turned angrily to the Sand sibling.

"What are you doing? That is a most unyouthful way to treat an opponent who gave their all in battle."

"Shut up. Get that loser out of my sight." Temari said angrily.

Lee suddenly sprung from his place and then jumped and went for his signature technique. "Leaf's spinning whirlwind!"

Temari blocked the kick on her fan. "Hah! You're just as pathetic as her."

"What did you say?" Lee said preparing to attack

Gai jumped down after his student. "Lee stop."

"Temari. Quit wasting time with the pathetic guardian guy. Get up here." Gaara called from above.

Lee glared up tightening his fist. Gai sighed before placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey. Sand team. I'd like to warn you about something. This kid is strong. You'd better prepare yourself."

Gaara glared down at the pair as they returned to their place and a team of chunin quickly cleaned the field in preparation for the next fight.

"I hope I'm next." Naruto said quietly.

"Me too!" Lee said from his nearby place.

The boards did not agree with either of the boys' requests and Hayate called the names on them. "Nara Shikamaru and Kin Tsuchi."

The lazy boy moved down slowly while the sound girl moved quickly to fight against Shikamaru.

"Troublesome. This sucks. Why did I have to fight against a girl?"

Hayate rolled his eyes. ' _Why are all Nara so lazy?'_ "Hajime!"

"I'll end this quickly for you." Kin said before noticing Shikamaru's shadow extending to her. Jumping out of the way, the girl threw two senbon at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru turned hearing a strange jingling from behind him. "Bells? That's an old trick. You'll throw one with and one without now so I'll dodge the one making the sound."

"So you think you're smart, what else is new?" The girl called before readying two more senbon.

Suddenly Shikamaru again heard a sound from behind him. ' _Behind me? The hell?_ '

The boy turned to notice strings on the bells which were causing them to pull. Shikamaru turned and raised his arms just in time to prevent a senbon from catching his heart, though it still pierced his arms.

"Heh. If I dodge your shadow, you're a weakling I have nothing to fear from."

Suddenly, though, Kin found that her body could no longer move. Shikamaru slowly stood up, listening to the worried calls from Choji.

"Shadow Copy Jutsu is a success." Shikamaru said with a grin.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't see your shadow anywhere."

"The strings idiot. Strings at that height don't have shadows."

The girl looked down in shock as the strings widened till the formed a huge shadow connecting the two genin.

"Now, let's play a game of chicken." Shikamaru said drawing two shuriken which made the girl draw shuriken of her own.

"You wouldn't." The girl said.

Shikamaru ignored her and then tossed the two kunai. As the kunai approached, he did a back bend dodging it.

"Hah! I knew-." The girl began only to feel her head connect hard with the wall behind her, knocking her out.

"Ninja are supposed to be aware of our surroundings. Even if we move the same, the distance from the walls was different for us." Shikamaru said before turning and walking back to his team.

"Winner. Shikamaru." Hayate announced rolling his eyes.

As stretchers and medic-nin collected the girl, Naruto narrowed his eyes as Shikamaru. "It's like he's a genius."

Asuma hearing him from nearby laughed. "He is a genius. He has an IQ of over 200 and I've never lost to him in a game of Shogi."

Naruto hearing that raised an eyebrow and turned to his own sensei.

"Most Nara are strategic geniuses Naruto." The scarecrow-like man said still staring into his orange book.

Naruto nodded before turning back. "My turn!"

Lee beside him spoke up. "No! Mine!"

Naruto cheered excitedly as the boards flashed up his name. "Finally!"

"Alright. Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto please make your way down."

Naruto jumped over the railing and was quickly followed by Kiba and Akamaru.

"Wow! Akamaru! We got lucky to get the dead last loser. Let's get our win and then head back up."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the words before simply brushing them off. "Hey. Don't you wanna leave Akamaru behind? He could get hurt down here."

Kiba growled at the boy while Akamaru barked. "Akamaru is my ninken, dobe. We fight together. But, for this fight, you can hang back buddy."

Naruto just grinned as the proctor called for the match to begin.

In the stands, Kurenai turned to her colleague. "Sorry Kakashi, but there's no way that Naruto can beat Kiba."

"Mah. We'll see. The bet still stands right?" Kakashi said to the female jonin causing all the nearby heads to turn.

"Wait. What's the bet that you guys made?" Sakura asked.

"We have a bet about who will have the most successful genin during the exam. The sensei amongst the Konoha team that wins the bet will get a prize. Each of us has to do something if we lose our bets. For example, I will have to take off my mask and burn my Icha Icha Collection. Asuma will have to give up smoking and shave his head for three months. Gai will have to stop training and wear not his green clothes. Kurenai will have to make a recording of her reading Icha Icha and distribute it to every male in Konoha." Kakashi said while happily reading his book.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Geez. Sensei making bets about their students."

"It means that we have faith in you guys." Asuma said holding up his hands and moving between Kurenai and Kakashi since it looks like she was gonna kill him.

"Indeed! I am sure my most youthful students will take this win!" Gai said loudly.

"Hmm? Did you say something Gai?" Kakashi said looking up from his book.

"Damn you and your hip attitude Kakashi!" Gai yelled causing all present to sweat drop.

* * *

Naruto stood across from Kiba who was cracking his knuckles. "Well. I'll end this with one punch." The dog boy said.

Naruto laughed at the boy. "We'll see about that mutt. Come on."

Kiba growled at the insult before forming a hand seal. "Beast Style Jutsu Quadruped Jutsu."

The boy's nails and canines grew longer giving the boy a beast like appearance. He shot forward and swiftly punched Naruto sending the blond tumbling.

"Heh. It's over proctor."

"The hell are you talking about?" Naruto said standing behind Kiba.

Kiba turned confused to see a log where "Naruto" had been before.

' _He's pretty fast.'_ Naruto thought looking at Kiba. ' _Sadly, he doesn't match up to Orochimaru or to most other ninja I've faced.'_

Naruto's eyes and facial features hardened as Kiba rushed at Naruto. As Kiba went for a punch, Naruto ducked the boy's outstretched arm before deftly punching the boy in the stomach. As the boy doubled over slightly, Naruto stepped back and swiftly landed a spin kick to Kiba's head sending the boy stumbling to the side.

"What's wrong Kiba? I thought you were gonna end this in one punch?"

* * *

In the stands, the various Konoha ninja watched in shock.

"There's no way that's the same Naruto from the academy." Choji said as he munched on more chips.

"Troublesome. Sasuke and Naruto both got a lot better."

Asuma and Kurenai turned to stare at Kakashi who was trying not to laugh at their awed expression. He noted that Gai was also looking down with a big grin at Naruto.

"Your most youthful pupil has kept up his training with the taijutsu we developed quite well." Gai said loudly turning to the white haired jonin.

"Naruto trained with you Gai? A lot of things like that aren't in his records at all." Asuma said.

"Hmm. I may have forgotten to update Naruto's records." Kakashi said still "reading" his book.

Kurenai rolled her eyes before turning to look back at her student. Nearby, Kurenai's other student struggled to figure out who to root for.

' _I w-want to cheer for N-Naruto-kun. But, K-Kiba-kun is my teammate and he's definitely losing right now.'_

* * *

Kiba stood up with a furious look on his face. ' _I will NOT be embarrassed by Naruto of all people.'_

"Fine. You want me to get serious, dobe? Don't regret it." Kiba said as he nodded to his partner. "Let's go Akamaru." The dog ran over to his partner who tossed the dog a pill of some kind before eating one himself.

' _Those are soldier pills.'_ Naruto thought as he watched Kiba's physical traits sharpen more and Akamaru turned red. ' _They make his beast ninjutsu a lot more prominent. Interesting.'_

Naruto watched as Kiba got on all fours and the small, now red dog, jumped on his back.

"Beast Human clone!" Kiba yelled. Naruto watched in fascination as Akamaru turned into a clone of Kiba.

"That's really cool, Kiba." Naruto said with a grin. "Won't help you though." ' _They're going to be faster.'_

Naruto jumped back as the Inuzuka duo pounced at him. The two slammed into his location and the boy found himself having to go on the defense as the two raced at him. The two backed up and then the two suddenly stopped.

"Let's see you handle this Naruto!" Kiba yelled as he stretched a bit before the two suddenly moved forward while spinning like powerful drills.

Naruto cursed as he moved out of the way of the fast moving drills. _'How should I stop them? Brutally effective shinobi tactics or show off?'_

Naruto drew a kunai and threw it at one of the spinning drills. He noticed that the drills managed to dodge the attack but to do so took a curving motion that moved the center of the drill.

Naruto grinned. ' _I'm gonna show off.'_

Naruto moved forward as the drills approached his location. The boy grinned before moving into the two and then flipped over the pair as the hit his location. As he landed, Naruto formed the hand seal for his favorite jutsu. "Ready or not, Kiba. Here I come."

A huge puff of smoke enveloped the field before dissipating to reveal thirty clones of Naruto.

Kiba and Akamaru stopped to gape at the clones before one of them growled. "Normal clones won't help you against me Naruto. They can't even touch me."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "These are shadow clones, loser. They can touch you."

Kiba and Akamaru growled before spinning again and then flying towards the clones. "We'll just take them both out!"

Naruto shook his head as the spinning drills reached the clones.

Suddenly, though, as Kiba and Akamaru got near one of the clones, it puffed up then exploded sending the pair flying apart.

Kiba and Akamaru quickly found themselves surrounded by more clones which also exploded, chaining the pair higher and higher suddenly, the explosions stopped and Kiba looked up to see Naruto above him.

Naruto flashed through a few hand seals before calling "Wind Release: Breakthrough!"

Naruto blew a powerful gust of wind that propelled Kiba into the ground slamming him into the ground cracking it.

Naruto landed beside the boy and then gently placed Akamaru beside the boy. "I put some wind under you with one of the clones so you shouldn't be down for too long and my clone got Akamaru out of the attack before he got too hurt."

Kiba nodded painfully, grimacing as he felt the pain from his various broken bones. "Thanks. I can't believe you beat me."

"Heh. I told you right. I'm gonna be Hokage someday. I've been training my ass off. But, we should do this again sometime. It's fun to wail on you."

Kiba laughed a bit before freezing from the pain.

Hayate stepped forward. "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto turned and grinned at his team before jumping up to join his team. "That was easy." The blond said high fiving his teammates.

"That was very clever for tactics Naruto." Kakashi said with an eye smile. "And skillful of you to keep Akamaru and Kiba from getting too hurt."

"Thanks sensei. Guess all those shogi games and tactics lessons paid off." Naruto said with a grin.

"You're not at a Nara's level but you'll make a great chunin. All three of you will."

* * *

The three genin smiled at their sensei as the medic ninja picked up Kiba and Akamaru on a stretcher.

The people in the room all looked at Team 7 with various reactions.

Shikamaru had been listening in to the talk Kakashi had with Naruto about tactics and shogi. ' _I wonder if he'd be up for more games. That was very clear planning. Naruto became a monster and Sasuke's no less. I wonder how Sakura turned out.'_

Ino continued just moping. Choji was eating chips while staring at Team 7 in almost awe.

' _Damn it Kakashi. You've raised two incredible shinobi. You're raising a team of monsters.'_

On the other side, Shino stared at Naruto. ' _That was impressive.'_

Kurenai was also staring at the boy. ' _That's the dead-last of the academy? I wasn't training my students enough. That was impressive.'_

Gai proudly addressed Naruto. "Naruto-kun! That was most youthful! You managed to take down a genin with a display of magnificent skill and mercy."

"Thanks Gai-sensei." Naruto said with a smile.

"Naruto-san! You are like me! You are a genius of hard work. I hope I get to test myself against you during the chunin exam." Lee said excitedly to a Naruto who'd turned to listen to something Sakura was saying to him.

"Hmm? Did you say something Lee?" Naruto said turning to look at the boy.

Lee's jaw dropped as Gai turned to the boy first and then looked back at Kakashi. "My rival! You have imparted your hip cool attitude onto Naruto-kun! Damn you!"

Kakashi wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm so proud. My efforts as a sensei are coming through."

Neji stood nearby and looked at the blond before grunting and resuming his death glare at Hinata. ' _So, in a battle of losers, one of the losers won. It will make no difference. Fate has decreed that nothing will change for him.'_

Sarutobi looked proudly at his surrogate grandson. ' _You would be proud of him Minato.'_

Across the room, Temari stared at Naruto. ' _Who'd have thought that the cutie was a wind user? Too bad it looks like Gaara has his eye on him.'_ The girl glanced at her younger brother and shuddered seeing his glare and feeling his killing intent.

A little way away, Orochimaru watched the team interact. ' _Ku ku ku. It seems that Kakashi isn't too bad a teacher. But, the Kyuubi is too merciful. My mark may have missed but my pray is still the same.'_

* * *

Hinata stood with Kiba as he was being ushered out of the area. "I h-have some m-medicine for K-kiba and Akamaru."

The medics took the medicine from Hinata.

"Thanks Hinata. You kicked ass. I couldn't keep up." Kiba said, his eyes tearing up with disappointment.

"N-no. I t-think you did a great job. We'll t-train together next time." The girl said, receiving a smile before the boy was carried out.

As Kiba was moved off the field, the boards began to flash again for a new match.

* * *

"I hope it is my turn!" Lee yelled excitedly staring at the board. Sadly, he was disappointed once again.

"Haruno Sakura vs Hyuga Neji. Please make your way down."

Kakashi sighed as Gai immediately began cheering that his student was going to beat his own before looking worried as his only female teammate faced off against the Hyuga prodigy. ' _Sakura has improved greatly but her work will be cut out for her.'_

Sakura faced Neji with a firm look on her face. ' _This is going to be hard. He's got a year of experience on me. But, I can't be the only one on my team who didn't make it.'_

Neji stared at the girl and casually activated his doujutsu. "You should give up."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I thought you'd say that."

"You do not stand a chance against me. Fate has decreed that I am the one to win. You were a weak fangirl before. Nothing will have changed enough for you to stand up to me."

"You can do it Sakura! Don't listen to that bastard." Naruto called from the railings. "He's just mad that you're competition for Sasuke's heart."

Sakura blushed at the comment as the boy in front of her turned to glare at the blond. She heard her teammate yelp as Sasuke smacked him too.

"I'm not giving up." Sakura said as the proctor moved between the two. The pink haired girl slipped into a defensive stance as her opponent assumed an offensive Jyuuken stance.

Hayate raised his arm. "Hajime!"

"So you will not surrender. Fine." Neji said before moving forward and striking at Sakura viciously.

Sakura sprung away from the Jyuuken strikes trying to keep as much distance between the two as possible. ' _I cannot fight him in a close range fight. Genjutsu's useless except to flood his vision with chakra.'_

Sakura jumped out of the way of another attack and then turned quickly forming hand seals before scooping a chunk of rock at Neji's head.

As the boy ducked the rock, Sakura deftly used a kunai to slash the boy's arm before moving away quickly.

The Hyuga grimaced with pain from the fairly deep cut before turning to hit the girl. As he turned and move to hit her though, a wall of Earth sprung up hitting his wrist causing him to stumble off balance. Sakura used the wall to fire 3 rocks from it into Neji's side cracking one of the boy's ribs and sending him stumbling. Through the holes that the missing rocks in the wall made, the pinkette threw 3 more kunai striking accurately into Neji's leg with two and into the previously hurt arm with the other.

' _Success. That should slow him down and weaken him.'_

Neji stumbled heavily favoring his left arm and leg. ' _That bitch.'_

Seeing the boy falling back, the girl advance with a grin. ' _I can do this. I'm about to take Neji Hyuga down.'_

Neji suddenly got in a strange stance with one arm and one leg low. "You are within my range of divination. Eight Trigrams: Thirty Two Palms!"

Sakura had to fall back as suddenly Neji had closed the gap and in a painfully fast series of strikes began hitting the girl.

The boy's combo finished and Sakura fell and Neji turned away. Suddenly, he felt a kunai slice his cheek and hit the wall in front of him.

"I'm not done yet." Sakura said standing up and spitting out a little blood.

Neji turned around with a haughty look on his face. "Give up. You're too hurt to compete."

"And you aren't? Is little Neji scared of getting sliced up more? I wonder how it feels knowing you don't match up to the other Hyuga in the room." Sakura taunted as she drew a kunai and winced as she felt the cursed mark tug for her to use it. ' _To think he could do that much damage with just one arm. Shit. It wasn't even close. I got cocky.'_

Neji turned furiously and attacked Sakura. The boy batted the kunai stab away before striking into Sakura's torso.

"Neji stop! I declare you the winner!" Hayate yelled suddenly as the boy kept moving.

Neji ignored the call. ' _How dare this bitch embarrass me? How dare she compare me to the pathetic excuse of an heiress?"_ The boy drew a kunai and aiming between the still smiling girl's eyes moved forward to stab her.

Sakura watched the blade began moving forward, unable to move. ' _Well. Maybe I made someone proud.'_ Sakura closed her eyes waiting for the final blow as she heard a strange chirping noise.

Neji suddenly felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and pull him back. In his vision suddenly was something bright blue, an intense chakra that filled vision and loud chirping filled his hearing.

The boy felt the metal head band on his head part under the slash of the blue light which dissipated to reveal a very furious Hatake Kakashi standing in front of him. The boy froze as he felt the intense killing intent hit him and dropped to his knees.

"The match is over. You should pay attention to the proctor's call." Kakashi said as he released the killing intent.

Feeling nothing, Sakura opened her eyes to see her sensei in front of her. She smiled before blacking out and falling only to be caught by Sasuke.

"That is why I asked that you learn control over your emotions Neji." The boy heard from his sensei who stood behind him. "Your rage and blindness almost had you destroyed by one of the strongest jutsu in Konoha. You have made an enemy that even I would not risk." Gai said nodding to Kakashi who was still glaring at the boy.

Neji stood up shakily brushing his instructor's hand off of himself, ignoring the furious looks from the others in the room, ignoring the look of shock from Lee, and the disappointed look the Hokage gave him.

"She should have surrendered. She was a weakling and a coward who used tricks to fight.

Kakashi quietly observed the boy. "Tricks like those are what are used by shinobi."

Gai nodded. "I agree with Kakashi on this one. Sakura fought incredibly well. Her cockiness at the end cost her, but impressively well for a shinobi."

Sasuke turned back from handing his teammates to the medics. "Naruto. Whether you face him or I do in the finals, we're going to destroy that punk."

Naruto nodded glaring at the Hyuga. "It's a promise teme." Then deciding to lighten the moment a bit, to get Sasuke to relax a bit, Naruto grinned as the team returned to the railing. "I'll help you get revenge on the guy that hurt your girlfriend for sure."

"What the hell dobe?" Sasuke said as he blushed slightly and turned to glare at Naruto.

"Mah. I didn't know you were that serious about Sakura, Sasuke? Have you asked her for permission to make her your girlfriend?" Kakashi said to the boy, who sputtered in a rare moment getting laughs from his team.

* * *

Kankuro watched the fight end and skittishly looked at Gaara beside him who was slowly trembling seeing the blood on the ground in front of him. ' _Shit. He's getting blood thirsty.'_

Hayate looked up at the flashing board before looking down and calling out for the next pair. "Choji Akimichi and Rock Lee please make your way down!"

Lee yelled. "YOSH!" The bowl cut boy jumped over the railing and landed excitedly.

"Choji, if you beat him, I'll buy you barbeque." Asuma said to his student.

"FOOD!" Choji yelled before jumping the railing and landing across from Lee.

"That is most youthful!" Lee said throwing up a thumbs up.

Hayate stepped forward and quickly raised his hand. "Hajime."

Choji immediately began by forming a hand seal. "Body Expansion Jutsu!"

The boy began aggressively rolling towards Lee who just grinned at the boy. "I appreciate your enthusiasm but sadly, you cannot win."

Lee the rolling ball approach before cocking a powerful punch that sent the ball flying into a nearby wall. Moving fast from location to location, as the boy bounced from the walls that Lee hit him into, Lee kept punching Choji with powerful hits. Soon, all that was left was a hole in one of the walls with a no longer large Choji in it.

Hayate stepped forward and declared Lee the winner as Gai hugged his excited student covering the stadium in a strange beach sunset genjutsu.

* * *

"Alright. Now that Gai's genjutsu is gone," Hayate continued coughing and glaring at Gai, "Let's have our final duo come down. Gaara of the Sand and Kinuta Dosu."

The two boys made their way down and faced against each other.

"Heh. So, you're the sand genin. You have some creepy eyes. I'm gonna enjoy crushing you."

Gaara remained silent then turned to the proctor. "Start the match."

"Hajime!" Hayate called coughing a little before making space between himself and the fighters.

Dosu charged Gaara ready to fight. Suddenly, though, he found himself unable to move as sand covered him and lifted him into the air.

"What the hell is this?" Dosu called as he struggled to free himself of the sand.

"You shall serve to confirm my existence." Gaara said in a deadly voice.

Naruto and the others in the room looked on in horror as before Hayate could stop the match, Gaara ripped Dosu in half with his sand dropping the boy's dead body.

Hayate stepped forward. _'Shit. I knew some asshole would do this.'_ "Match over. Winner Gaara."

Gaara shunshined up to his team as the blood and guts and Dosu's body were removed from the arena.

' _What the hell was that?'_ Naruto thought staring at the sand boy.

' _ **That kid was the jinchuriki of Shukaku, the one tailed raccoon demon.'**_

' _Are you telling me that I have to deal with that? He got way cooler stuff.'_

' _ **He also can't sleep and the sleep deprivation along with awful relationship have slowly driven him insane. I can do that if you want.'**_

' _No thanks. I'm content.'_

Naruto heard what he thought was deep rumbling laughter before he heard Hayate calling for the winners of the preliminaries to move down.

"Alright. Now that the preliminaries are complete, Hokage-sama will tell you how to face the third test."

Sarutobi stepped forward. "As I said before, the finals will be taking place in a setting where everyone will be able to watch them happen. They will be 1 on 1 tournaments. We ask that you fight at full strength and show us what you've got. For this reason, you will all be given one month's time to prepare, train, and rest prior to the finals. Now, please draw a ballot from the box Anko-chan has. It's the last thing we need to handle before we dismiss."

"Wait. I have a question. So, only the person who wins the tournament will become a chunin?" Shikamaru asked.

The Hokage shook his head. "No. Your ability and what you show us will be judged. Any of you regardless of your place may become chunin and if we decide we don't like any of you, none of you may become chunin. Now, please draw."

The genin took their turns drawing from the box.

"Now, please call out your numbers."

"1" Naruto called.

"3" Lee said from beside him.

"Um. I-I have 2." Hinata stammered.

"4." Gaara said.

"6" Kankuro said.

"5" Shino said almost impossible to hear.

"7" Temari said. ' _What's the point of this?'_

"9" Neji called.

"Troublesome. 8" ' _I might be against a girl. That's troublesome.'_

"10" Sasuke said.

Sarutobi waited till the numbers were read off and recorded. "We have your first round matches for the tournament." He had Hayate hold up a page with the bracket.

Naruto noticed he was against Hinata and that Sasuke was against Neji. ' _Damn I wanted him. Oh_

The shinobi nodded before dispersing. Naruto approached Kakashi and Sasuke. "Is Sakura alright sensei? Did you check on her?"

Kakashi nodded. "She'll be just fine. I was told that while her condition is severe, she'll be up and about in 3 days and she can train again in a week. Right now, you two are the focus."

The two boys nodded.

"Tomorrow morning, meet me at the hot springs. We'll discuss our plans for the upcoming weeks there. Till then, go get some rest." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

Naruto and Sasuke nodded before leaving, excited to begin training.

* * *

 **A.N: Alright. That's it for the preliminaries and this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter! Thanks as always for reading!**

 **Hope you guys all stay safe!**


	16. Training for the main event!

**A.N. Well. I'm back. I think I owe some people apologies for not updating in such a long time. I've been mostly slammed with classes and exams. But, finals are about to end and so I'll be updating again just a bit. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People Talking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal People Thinking**

" **Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

" _ **Hey"**_ **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Naruto sprang out of bed and quickly threw clothes on. He'd have a few hours before he had to meet Kakashi, but this would be as good a time as any to get a bit of early training in. He summoned 3 clones.

"You three read those books on the history of Konoha, Suna, and Iwa. I'm gonna grab some breakfast and work out some." Naruto said as he threw on his clothes for the day, a simple blue shirt over a pair of black ninja trousers.

The blond boy stepped into the kitchen and began scrambling two eggs as he pondered his upcoming match in the tournament. ' _The first round shouldn't be too much of a problem, from what I saw. I wonder what kind of training Kakashi-sensei is going to have us do.'_

Eating the eggs with some toast, Naruto skimmed his book on seals, contemplating new ideas for seals. As soon as the boy finished his meal, he dispelled his clones, brushed his teeth, and then jumped out of the window to head to the hot springs.

He arrived at the hot springs to find Sasuke, already there in his normal attire looking relaxed. "Sup, teme." Naruto said holding up a hand.

"Dobe." Sasuke said with a nod. "Kakashi's still not here."

"Not surprising. He said to be here in the morning. He'll probably show up around noon." Naruto said rolling his eyes.

"Mah. How hurtful Naruto. That's not a nice thing to say about your beloved sensei." Kakashi said standing eerily close to both boys causing them to jump slightly. "Shall we talk about training in the hot springs?"

* * *

Team Seven's three males sat contentedly in the hot water and let the water ease their muscles.

"So, sensei, what kind of training are we going to be doing over the course of the next month?" Naruto asked leaning forward a little, curious about their teacher's plan.

Kakashi just eye-smiled. "Well, what do you both think? You're both against Hyuga. You tell me what you think we should do?"

Naruto thought for a while, but as he did Sasuke spoke up. "I think I'm gonna crush that loser and then move on. I can't fight him close range as well, though. He's probably got the advantage there. He took Sakura down once he got in his range with just one arm."

Kakashi nodded. "The Hyuga have always been known for their strong close range combat. But, don't underestimate the Sharingan. It helps to be able to predict his technique. We'll work on your speed so that you'll be able to outpace him."

Naruto spoke up next. "I don't think Hinata will be that much of a problem. But, if she's the same as Neji, I'll have to keep my distance. I should probably be careful about genjutsu."

Again, Kakashi nodded. "Just don't get too arrogant with that. You saw what happened to Neji because he underestimated his opponent. In general, you'll both work on getting stronger over all. But, we should consider how to handle your opponents individually. You'll also have to show off just a bit. We'll work on that too."

The boys nodded. Suddenly, from outside the area they heard a few giggles. Naruto frowned.

"There's someone out there spying on the female side! Come on teme. He might be spying on someone we know. Let's stop him." Naruto said before jumping over the fence.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and followed suit a bit slowly as Kakashi sighed and moved to follow his students.

On the other side of the fence, Naruto found a man peeking through a hole in the fence. The man had big bushy white hair and wore a bright red coat over tan clothing. He giggled as blood gushed from his nose and then wrote down something in a small notebook.

Naruto frowned and then snuck behind him while quietly using "Sexy no Jutsu". He tapped the man on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"

The man turned around before his eyes widened. Blood burst from his nose sending him rocketing over the fence. From the other side Naruto heard screams followed by yells to beat the pervert.

Naruto changed back into himself before shooting a grin at his teammate and sensei. "That'll teach that asshole. Let's go train."

Before he could though, he found himself grabbed by the same man. "You shitty brat! You ruined my pee- I mean research!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What do I care pervert?"

"Who the hell are you calling a pervert? I am a super pervert!"

Naruto shook the hand from his shoulder giving the man a disgusted look. He was very surprised when his sensei addressed the man.

"Jiraiya-sama. You're still in the village. I'm surprised. Is this just for your books or are you back for a while?"

Naruto's rolled his eyes. ' _The Toad-Sannin is a pervert? This is the guy that trained the Yondaime? Why are the sannin so weird?'_

Jiraiya grinned at the shocked look on the genin's faces. "It's a bit of both! I have to report to sensei every so often. Plus, Konoha has some beautiful women. It works well. I'll be here for a while. Are these your genin?"

"Yeah. This is Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." Kakashi said pointing to each boy.

"So, the class genius and the idiot. Just like every team 7, you're keeping the tradition going. Are you training them for the Chunin exams? Sensei brought us here for that too."

Kakashi nodded. "I'm sure they'd appreciate your wisdom over mine though."

Jiraiya looked at both the boys who seemed eagerly leaning forward. "No thanks. I don't train brats anymore. Uchiha are too genius for me. That's more up your alley. I'm not training the snot-nosed punk who ruined my research either."

"Hn. (I don't want his training. I'd rather work on perfecting the Sharingan anyway)." Sasuke grunted to which his sensei nodded.

"Whatever pervert. It's not like I'd learn anything really from you anyway." Naruto said.

"Mah. Don't underestimate what you can learn Naruto. He's the man that's taught a Hokage in the past you know." Kakashi said patting his student's head.

"Yeah, but he's probably just washed up." Naruto said.

Jiraiya felt a vein bulge on his forehead. "Alright brat. You think I'm washed up. How about a little contest? You and me, right now. If you impress me, I'll train you."

Naruto grinned. "Fine! Let's go!"

Kakashi sighed as he and Sasuke followed the two hotheaded ninja to training ground 7.

* * *

Naruto stood squared off against the older ninja. "I'm gonna kick your ass old man."

Jiraiya just grinned off the insult. "Let's see you try punk."

Naruto charged the Sannin, making three clones as he advanced. One of the clones jumped up and threw a powerful kick at the Sannin as another went for a low attack. The last clone moved around to hit the Sannin from the other side.

Jiraiya stood perfectly still, then before Naruto's clones could react, with a finger swiftly popped all three. Moving easily, he side stepped a wind blade that the original threw at him.

Naruto frowned as he watched the older Sannin out-maneuver him. _'I'll have to surprise him. He's probably underestimating me.'_

Naruto summoned 30 more clones and had them charge the white haired man who easily began dealing with the various taijutsu the clones threw at him. During this time, Naruto began pulling pieces of paper and swiftly writing seals onto them. The seals weren't advanced by any means, simple paralytic seals. He summoned more clones and slipped the seals around their kunai and then had the clones rush into the fray.

Jiraiya grinned as he dealt with the clones. He easily popped one by elbowing it in the face. Using the same arm, he grabbed another one and used it to beat 5 more clones down. He sidestepped a kunai stab from another clone, and easily wrestling the kunai from its hand he stabbed the clone. Stepping back to see all the clones dealt with, he grinned at Naruto. His grin faded fairly quickly when he saw Naruto grin back and make a hand seal.

Jiraiya felt a shock move up his arm from the kunai forcing his body into a solitary position. Freezing his entire body leaving only his mouth able to move. "A paralytic seal on the kunai?" He asked.

"Damn right. I told you that you were out of shape." Naruto said as he moved into punch Jiraiya. As his fist made contact though, he felt the man puff into a fog of smoke. ' _Shit! It was a shadow clone all along?'_ Naruto thought. He quickly turned only to have a fist make hard contact. As Naruto began to fly away though, he felt Jiraiya grab his leg. The older Sannin proceeded to slam the boy into the ground repeatedly, swinging Naruto over his head in each direction and causing Naruto shaped holes to appear in the ground. Eventually the man released Naruto who lay on the ground groaning.

"Well, not too shabby brat. I guess that was decent enough for some training. It was creative to use the seal like that. Too bad you're still nothing compared to me." Jiraiya said as Naruto's team approached. "Not too bad Kakashi. Mind if I take Naruto for the next few weeks?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Not at all. I'll have my hands full with Sasuke here. It'll make my job easier if you'll be the one to train Naruto."

Jiraiya nodded happily before hoisting the boy and taking off.

"I feel bad for the dobe if that's his entire month." Sasuke said.

"Oh. Don't worry Sasuke. I'll make sure to try and match that treatment with you." Kakashi said eye-smiling at his student who felt a sweat trickle down his forehead.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes and something blue swam into his vision. Then, something a little white. ' _It's the sky. I'm staring at the sky.'_

Groaning again, the blond haired boy sat up and stared around. He was in a small grassy patch surrounded on one side by trees, and on the other seemed to be some bushes and a few trees. He heard something giggle nearby. The boy turned his head to see Jiraiya staring through some bushes and taking notes.

"Hey! Ero-sennin! What the hell are you doing? Where the hell are we?" The boy yelled.

From the other side of bushes came startled yells. "There's someone perverted! Let's get out of here!"

Jiraiya turned away from the bushes frowning. "Damn it brat. You ruined my research again!"

Naruto just rolled his eyes. "Who cares? Where are we and why am I here?"

"We are by a river and waterfall because it's time for you to train. Kakashi handed you off to me for the rest of this month."

"Sweet! What're you going to teach me?" Naruto said springing up excitedly.

"A lot. It's going to be a hard month of training, brat. It'd look pretty sorry if you didn't get chunin after being trained by one of the Sannin." Jiraiya said. "We'll start with some training on your taijutsu and ninjutsu. We'll work on some sealing since you know some of that."

Naruto grinned. "What's first?"

"A breakdown of your skillset. I need to know what all you can do? Tell me what you know how to do."

Naruto nodded. "I can make a ton of shadow clones. I've been using them to train. I know a good bit of wind style ninjutsu. I'm decent at sealing. I think my taijutsu is decent too. I'm pretty bad at genjutsu."

Jiraiya nodded. "That's not bad. What about using the Kyuubi's chakra?"

"I've used it before but I don't want to use it more than I have to. I want to win on my own merits, you know?" Naruto said shaking his head.

Jiraiya nodded. "Alright. Then, let's begin training starting tomorrow. We'll start with taijutsu, some more fuin and ninjutsus. I think we can probably teach you to summon toads too."

Naruto stared. "You're going to let me sign the sealing contract?"

Jiraiya grinned. "Of course I am! You're my apprentice aren't you?"

Naruto grinned. "Awesome!"

* * *

 **A.N. Alright. It's not super long as a chapter but I hope you guys enjoy it. I'll work on cranking out more too. I promise that I'll post another within the week. Hope you guys stay safe and happy. Please leave reviews! It definitely motivates me to write more.**


	17. The Main Event Begins!

**A.N. Alright! This is the new chapter. This chapter will be the main event of the chunin exams. I'm having a lot of fun writing it. I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you guys for your reviews! I enjoyed reading them. I'll respond to most below, so if you don't care, just skip it.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Believergirl62 – Yes to the Sasuke and Sakura thing. Kind of. It's complicated and hopefully you'll see why in a few chapters. As to the Sakura and Tsunade thing, yeah. For sure. Because I think with Sakura's superb chakra control, she'd make an awesome medic.**

 **DrgnDrake – Yes. Jiraiya and Naruto met already. I'm a goof who forgot what his own story had. I had to go back and read the entire fanfiction again so I could remember where I was going. I modified the chapter to fix that.**

 **Kat – same response as DrgnDrake. Thanks both of you for pointing it out.**

 **Agent Numbah 227 – understandable. I promise it's not dead. I'm just preparing to graduate so it's been a bit too busy. I'll try to be better about updating!**

 **Shrek – What do you mean? The nine tails in Shippuden did fight Orochimaru and kicked his ass. Furthermore, it's an entity older than any living shinobi (basically). It's watched countless ninja fight. Canonically, it was also sealed in Mito Uzumaki and Kushina Uzumaki. It was used in battles against Hashirama and controlled by Madara. It's watched hundreds of fights. In fights, if you can see how muscles move, you can predict the actions of your opponent. In martial arts or boxing, that's how people predict and counter hits. It makes sense that something that was in humans for years would have an idea about how to fight considering its hosts would've fought lots and that it's heightened senses would catch miniscule movements of muscle.  
**

 **Thanks everyone else for your encouraging responses!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

"Hey" – **Normal People Talking**

' _Hey'_ – **Normal People Thinking**

" **Hey" – Demons/ Large Monsters talking**

' _ **Hey'**_ **– Demons/ Large monsters thinking**

" _ **Hey"**_ **– Inner Sakura Talking**

* * *

 **Tale of Namikaze Naruto**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

Naruto jumped out of bed as a kunai pierced his loudly beeping alarm clock. Sighing as he stared at the "6:30 am" on the screen before it went out, Naruto began walking towards the bathroom. ' _I really need to stop doing that. That's my 3_ _rd_ _alarm clock this month. Stupid Jiraiya made me a bit too paranoid with his surprise attacks.'_

Naruto winced as he remembered how painful some of those surprise attacks were. Jiraiya over the last month completely slammed Naruto with his training. The Sannin was a ruthless instructor who grilled Naruto on every topic, from strategy to taijutsu and even basic genjutsu. Naruto progressed in skill tremendously though his genjutsu was still abysmal. He could dispel them more readily now but overall he was no better at casting them.

Taking a quick shower, Naruto searched his closet for appropriately cool clothes for the main event, remembering what Jiraiya told him.

* * *

 _**Flashback**_

 _Jiraiya and Naruto sat on the grass in Training Ground 7 as both of them ate sandwiches and drank cold drinks after a long morning of training. It was their last day of training and Jiraiya focused on the last few details._

" _Remember Naruto, the exam is a test of how skilled you are and how well equipped you would be to lead a squad. You're being tested on your ability to strategize. Even if you win the whole thing, if you can't show that you'll be well equipped to lead, you'll stay a genin."_

" _I know. I know." Naruto said waving the man off. "Don't worry so much ero-sennin. I'll be just fine."_

 _Jiraiya smiled, not feeling too worried. "It's also a chance to show off so pick something flashy to wear. Looking cool gives you points."_

 _Naruto laughed. "Have you met me? I'm gonna be the coolest."_

 _**End Flashback**_

* * *

Naruto reached into his closet and began dressing. He chose a tight fitting black shirt with the Uzumaki symbol on the back and a pair of black pants. ' _Might as well represent the clan a bit.'_

Naruto then tied his sleeves and pant legs down with some black ninja tape and then tied on his kunai holster and weapon pouch. Tying his forehead protector on, Naruto next reached for a black cloak with orange trim and put it on, intending to use it to hid his hands. Approving of his look in a mirror, Naruto headed to the kitchen to prepare some food.

Naruto quickly made a scramble of two eggs, toasted some bread, and warmed some bacon. Hastily consuming his breakfast with a glass of orange juice, the blond boy got up and jumped out of his window heading to the arena for the chunin exam.

' _The exam starts at 8:00 so I'll get there with about 15 minutes to spare. That's not too bad.'_ Naruto thought.

The boy reached the arena as tons of people filed into the stadium. He noticed Sasuke and Kakashi standing outside. Sasuke was dressed in his similar clothing but instead of the usual blue, the boy wore a black shirt.

"Yo! Teme! Sensei! What's up?" Naruto said waving.

"Mah. Naruto! You're looking sharp. I was a little worried you'd go for the orange jumpsuit." Kakashi said waving. "I'm looking forward to seeing how you've improved."

Naruto grinned. "I'm gonna win this."

Sasuke snorted. "You wish Teme. I'm definitely winning." He said as the team headed inside.

"Well, you two head into the main arena. I'm sitting up with the other sensei and their teams. I know Sakura's already up there."

Naruto and Sasuke grinned. Their other teammate had recovered well about 3 weeks into the month long break. Sakura was still a bit too weak to train after being discharged but she was alive and well.

"You get to get revenge for your girlfriend teme." Naruto said shooting a grin at Sasuke who blushed a bit and sputtered.

"Shut up dobe!"

Naruto laughed as the two made their way into the arena and were slowly joined by the other genin.

The genin were greeted by a different jonin than before, Genma.

"Line up. The audience is here to see you. Stand straight. Look straight and proud." The brown haired jonin said.

"Hey. Where's the sick guy?" Naruto asked.

"He's sick." Genma said, thinking about the sad fate of the other man.

* * *

At the highest point of the auditorium, Sarutobi sat in a chair with another placed beside him. He stood as he noticed someone approaching from his left. "Kazekage-sama! Thank you for coming! You must be tired from your journey."

The Kazekage approached the other man and took his own seat. "Not at all. It is fortunate that the exams were held here this time. I fear the journey might've become too much for you. Perhaps it is time you decide on a fifth."

Sarutobi chuckled. "Please don't mock me that way. I'm not so old. I plan to do this for at least five more years. Anyway, let's begin."

The old hokage hefted himself from his chair and then stepped forward and began speaking. "Thank you everyone for coming to the chunin exam!" The man said. "There are ten genin who passed our preliminaries! Please stay and watch till the end."

* * *

Genma turned to the genin. "Alright. This is the final exam. This arena is different but the rules from the preliminaries apply. You fight till one of you dies or gives up. If I decide that the fight is over, you stop otherwise, it'll get ugly. Got it?"

Genma looked over all the faces. "Alright. The first match of the day is Hinata Hyuga vs. Uzumaki Naruto. Those two stay here. The rest of you go up to the waiting area."

* * *

Kakashi sat down beside his fellow jonin instructors and their respective genin. "Well. Looks like I'm gonna be closer to winning our bet after this one Kurenai."

Kurenai just ignored him. She knew about her student's crush on the boy. ' _I'm not sure Hinata will be able to fight him.'_

Sakura grinned. "Naruto's so got this."

Kiba growled. "No way! Naruto's good but Hinata-chan's no pushover."

* * *

Hyuga Hiashi sat beside his youngest daughter in another part of the stadium.

"Father. Do you think sister will win?" Hanabi asked turning to her father.

"Perhaps she will. I have heard rumors that her opponent is formidable. It may prove too difficult."

Hanabi frowned. ' _How can a Hyuga lose to a no name genin?_ '

* * *

Naruto squared against the timid Hyuga. "Let's have a good one Hinata! I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got."

Hinata shyly nodded. "Hai. N-Naruto-kun. Good L-luck to you." ' _This is my chance to impress him.'_

Genma stepped forward. "Alright. Hajime."

As soon as the jonin called for the start, Naruto sprung backwards creating distance between himself and his opponent. At the same time, the blond threw four kunai at his opponent. ' _Alright. This is only the first round. I can't let myself get too hurt and I need to show off a bit. What's my strategy?'_

Hinata jumped out of the way of the incoming kunai and activated her byakugan staring down her opponent. She began moving forward, trying to get into close range in order to engage the blond in a taijutsu fight.

' _She doesn't have range. I'm going to end this quickly. I'll bait her in and then go for a paralysis seal.'_

Naruto pulled a pre-prepared paralysis kunai and then moved forward to engage the Hyuga kunoichi. Hinata dodged the first slash, almost stopping entirely as Naruto engaged her. She quickly found herself on the back foot as the blond boy put on pressure onto her.

' _The kunai is making things hard. I'll have to use one of my own.'_ Hinata thought. She drew a kunai of her own and then moved to use it to slash at Naruto. Naruto dodged the blow by leaning backwards. As he did, he used his right leg to land a powerful kick into Hinata's stomach, pushing the girl away and causing her to double over a bit.

Naruto threw his kunai and then flashed through a series of hand seals. "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hinata's eyes widened as the one kunai multiplied into thirty. The girl channeled chakra and then quickly began spinning creating a dome of chakra that knocked the kunai away and dispelled the cloned ones.

"What is that?!" Ino said as she watched Hinata deflect the kunai.

* * *

"That's the same technique Neji knows!" Tenten said. "It's called Hakkeshou Kaiten. The user covers themselves in chakra from their openings and then uses it to blast away any attack. With their 360 degree vision, it makes for a really strong defense."

* * *

Sakura frowned. "That's pretty strong. I wonder how Naruto'll cope with it."

Kakashi eye smiled. "That shouldn't be a problem. He'll surprise you."

Neji frowned as he saw the Hyuga heiress use the technique. ' _What a waste for her to know such a jutsu.'_

Hinata finished her rotation and prepared to move again when suddenly she felt a fist make contact with the side of her face sending her flying. Naruto stood in place.

"That's a pretty strong technique Hinata-chan. But, if I just move around you and then wait for the technique to quit rotating, I'll get around it." The blond said picking up the kunai from earlier.

Hinata stood a little shakily as she saw Naruto rush at her again with his kunai. As he closed, the girl raised her own kunai to match his as the boy slashed downward. The girl began to move to strike the boy as she felt his kunai make contact with her own, when suddenly she felt a spark and then her body seize and unable to move.

Naruto grinned as he stepped back. "Paralysis seal success." Naruto raised the kunai to the Hyuga's throat. "I suggest you surrender Hinata-chan. That seal won't release till I tell it to and I don't want to kill you."

"I-I surrender." Hinata said.

Genma stepped forward. "Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto released his seal and grinned at Hinata. "That wasn't too bad Hinata-chan! I bet with some training you'll be crazy strong!" Naruto then hugged the girl.

Hinata suddenly overwhelmed by the hug, promptly passed out in his arms.

"Hinata-chan? Oh man! She's way more hurt than I thought."

Genma sweat dropped at the boy's obliviousness as the medics moved to take the girl and Naruto headed up.

* * *

In the stands, the genin stared in awe at the former dead last.

"That was incredible. He didn't get hit even once. He used mostly taijutsu too. Hinata had the highest score for the girls in taijutsu." Ino said.

Nearby Kurenai sighed as she tried to ignore Kakashi's gloating look.

"Naruto's been training really hard." Sakura said. "I knew he'd have this match."

Kiba growled. "That's two people from Team Ten he's beat. Shino'll kick his ass though."

Sakura giggled. "No way! Naruto's too strong."

Gai also grinned. "Yosh! Naruto-kun has developed his skills greatly. He is much faster than before and his taijutsu is much cleaner! Your young student's flames of youth burn brightly my rival! I challenge you to a contest to match his!"

Kakashi turned a page in his book. "Hm? Did you say something Gai?"

"Damn you and your hip attitude Kakashi!" Gai yelled causing the nearby people to flinch.

* * *

In the Kage area, Sarutobi gazed proudly at his surrogate grandson. ' _You've grown so much Naruto-kun. It's impressive that just a few months ago you were weak. I'm sure you'll take this mantle in a few years yourself.'_

He glanced sideways at the man beside him who was also staring at the field. ' _Though, I may not be here for that day.'_

The Kazekage stared at the blond genin who was now reveling in the applause. ' _To think the Kyuubi brat whose files showed him as an idiot proved to be this strong. He might have to be eliminated in the near future. Perhaps, he can serve as a motivator for Sasuke-kun to join us.'_

* * *

In the stands, Kotetsu, Izumo and a few other chunin sat holding boards. Kotetsu whistled. "Man. Not a single scratch on himself. It was a clean fight."

Izumo nodded. "He had that fight in his hands the entire time. Every single move was clearly orchestrated to find weaknesses and exploit them. The use of the kunai Kage Bunshin and his method for paralyzing her was clear too. I think he should be nominated for advancement."

Beside him however, one of the female chunin shook her head. "We didn't even see what he could do. I think we should give him high marks but I want more before I decide."

Kotetsu frowned. "Maybe. I think it's more impressive that he took down a clan heiress without showing his cards. He's considering the next matches. It's wise. I'm making the recommendation."

* * *

Naruto jumped up to the waiting area, eager to see what the next match would hold.

Genma stepped forward. "Alright. Rock Lee and Gaara of the Sand. Come on down."

"Yosh!" Yelled before jumping down and moving to his place. He turned to see Gaara float down on a cloud of sand.

"Let us have a youthful match!" Rock Lee said to his opponent holding a thumb up.

Gaara just gave him a cold look.

Rock Lee suddenly threw up a hand and caught the stopper to the strange gourd on Gaara's back. "The match has not started yet. There's no need to be so antsy."

Genma looked at both boys before stepping forward. "Hajime!"

Rock Lee shot forward, jumping into the air. "Leaf Hurricane!"

His kick however was blocked by a sudden swell of sand. Lee found himself suddenly facing a burst of sand. He jumped away only to find more chasing him. Dodging it, he moved back in for another attack which against was stopped by the sands.

* * *

Temari snorted in the waiting area. "This is pointless. There's no way bowl cut will win."

Naruto turned to her. "I dunno. Lee's pretty strong."

Temari gave the blond a cold smile. "It doesn't matter. Gaara has never even be touched before. There's no way he'll keep up."

* * *

In the stands, Sakura stared at the fight. "It doesn't seem like Taijutsu is very effective. Lee should probably try ninjutsu or genjutsu."

Gai shook his head. "That's not possible. Lee is incapable of using either. Instead, he must rely solely on taijutsu. That's what'll let him win though."

Sakura turned back to the fight. ' _No Taijutsu or Genjutsu? That'll be pretty tough. I wonder what Lee has up his sleeve.'_

* * *

Lee sprung away from Gaara creating distance and then reaching under his orange leg warmers removed two sets of leg weights. He casually tossed the two sets weights away.

' _As if those will do much. A little weight won't make a difference.'_ Temari thought as she watched on.

The weights however slammed into thick stadium walls creating clouds of smoke and leaving holes in the walls causing the audience to sweat drop.

' _What the hell?'_ Temari thought.

Gaara stared at Lee. Suddenly, though, the boy disappeared from his vision.

As his sand shifted behind him, Gaara turned to see Lee's fist inches from his head. The sand blocked it just in time but then rapidly shifted to block a kick from the other side. Then another punch aimed at his gut. Suddenly, Lee disappeared entirely.

Then, Lee kicked him on top of the head with a spinning axe kick causing Gaara to stumble and putting a small cut on Gaara's cheek.

Gaara stood up only to see Lee disappear again. Sensing his sand move behind him, Gaara turned to see the attack. This time though, Lee moved again, in front of him and landed a powerful punch to Gaara's face sending the sand genin flying.

Gaara rose slowly. Sand fell chipping from his face.

' _My opponent has an armor of sand.'_ Rock Lee thought as he watched Gaara's now ecstatic expression.

"Is that all?" Gaara asked as his armor rebuilt itself.

Lee turned to look at where his instructor sat.

* * *

 _**Flashback**_

 _Rock Lee was walking around the Village with Gai, who gave instructions as they walked. "Tomorrow, Lee. You must use your every tool to fight. This is to protect your dreams. Tomorrow you shall bloom!"_

" _Hai Gai-sensei! I will fight with all I have and become a chunin. If I cannot, I will run 3000 laps around the village. And if I cannot do that, I will climb the Hokage Mountain with 3 boulders on my back!"_

" _HAHAHA! That's my student! I am sure you will succeed."_

 _**End Flashback**_

* * *

Lee unwrapped his bandages and then stared at Gaara. ' _With that armor, he'll be heavier. I'll have to go all out.'_

Lee flashed under Gaara and kicked him into the air. He continued with a series of further kicks. He flinched as he felt pain and then moved to wrap his bandages around the boy. Spinning quickly, He descended slamming the boy into the ground. "Primary Lotus!"

Lee sprung away, panting as he felt his body in pain, unable to move much. He kneeled. ' _I got him.'_

The cloud of dust cleared, however, revealing an empty shell of the sand armor. Lee turned as he heard a giggle from behind him.

Lee turned just in time to throw his hands up as a wave of sand slammed into him sending him flying. Lee stood shakily only to have another wave hit him.

' _Gai-sensei has believed in me. I must not let him down.'_ Lee thought as a third wave descended on him.

Then, he sprung away. "The Lotus of the Leaf blooms twice!"

* * *

Kakashi turned seriously to his rival. "Gai. The 8 celestial gates?"

Gai nodded. "To fulfill his dreams, this is the strength that I've given him."

Kakashi stared at Lee. ' _That's not just hard work. That kid is a genius.'_

* * *

Lee stood and thought. ' _Naruto. Neji. Sasuke. I must surpass you all. Gai-sensei! I shall protect my ninja way!'_

"Third gate open! Life Gate!" Lee yelled as his skin turned red and a green aura enveloped him. Channeling more he opened the next. "Fourth Gate! Gate of Harm!" Blood leaked from his nose.

Then, he vanished sending Gaara flying and raising an enormous cloud of dust.

As Gaara's body emerged from the sand, the Suna genin felt a fist collide with him. He bounced like a pinball repeatedly from different points in the air, each strike tearing more and more of his armor.

' _Not enough!'_ Lee thought. "Fifth Gate! Gate of Limits! Open!"

Lee felt his muscles snap and shred as he struck Gaara again sending the boy flying again. Grabbing him repeatedly, Lee pummeled him downwards. "Extreme Lotus!"

Gaara slammed into the ground as lee fell away exhausted. Lee looked up to see a very hurt Gaara lying in a cushion of sand. The sand ninja's hand stretched out and sand caught Lee's arm and leg. Gaara closed his hand. "Desert Coffin!"

Lee yelled in pain as the sand completely crushed his arm and leg. Gaara prepared to kill the boy but before he could, Genma stepped in. "That's enough. Winner! Gaara of the sand."

Gaara stood up slowly and then began walking away as medics rushed out to grab Lee and take him inside.

* * *

Gai stared proudly, tears beginning to flow from his eyes. As he did though, a medic approached him.

"Gai-san. You were Rock Lee's instructor correct?"

"Hai!" Gai said standing.

"I'm not sure how to tell you but, I have bad news. We have assessed Rock Lee's condition. I am afraid that he may not be able to be a shinobi again. We will attempt procedures to try to repair the damage, but it may be grim."

Gai nodded solemnly as Kakashi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It is a risk of a forbidden jutsu. I will leave the treatment to you."

Kakashi stared sadly at his friend and rival. ' _I can't imagine the pain. Poor Gai. Hopefully, Lee recovers but it's a risk he considered.'_

* * *

Kotetsu frowned. "That was brutal. Poor kid. If he'd held out or won, perhaps Lee could've won. With his skill in just taijutsu, it's impressive he's gotten this far."

Izumo nodded. "Yeah. But, he should've given up sooner. It's unwise to put so much into one fight. Opportunities come and go but life doesn't. I don't recommend him for chunin yet."

"Agreed." The female chunin, Sarada, said. "He has skill but needs better strategy. Going all in like that could get a whole squad killed."

Izumo nodded. "What about Gaara? He was strong. His strategy wasn't good either but he's strong. He survived all that and walked away from the match."

Kotetsu grimaced. "We didn't see much but with that strength it's not hard to see that. He's pretty tough. Perhaps recommend him but wait for the next fight he's in."

* * *

Genma stepped forward and prepared for the next fight. "Shino Aburame vs Kankuro! Come down please."

Kankuro grimaced. It wouldn't be good for the plan if his skills were revealed. "I give up!" ' _I never expected Gaara to be so hurt. We'll have to let him fight again faster for the plan to begin.'_

Shino frowned as his opponent. Genma stared suspicious of the action before moving to the next bracket.

"Alright. Temari of the Sand and Shikamaru Nara. Come down."

Temari jumped down, using her fan to float to the ground, and then turned. "Get down here!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome. I don't want to. I should probably just forfeit. This isn't worth the trouble."

As he said that though, he felt a hand make hard contact with his back sending him tumbling over the railing into the arena.

"Go get her Shika!" Naruto said grinning at the lazy Nara who was now staring up at clouds from his place lying in the arena.

Shikamaru listened to the crowd jeer for the match to hurry up. ' _Troublesome. They're only here to see Sasuke fight. They don't want to see a match between two sideshows.'_

Temari frowned. "Fine! If you don't want to fight. I guess I'm gonna attack." With those words, Temari charged folding her fan. The girl slammed her fan down, only to find Shikamaru standing on top of two kunai he'd imbedded into the wall behind.

"Y'know. I don't want to fight. I don't care about becoming a chunin. But, I really don't want to lose to a girl."

Temari growled at the sexist attitude. Quickly opening her fan, she unleashed a powerful gale of wind. When it dissipated, Shikamaru was gone.

' _Heh. He's good at running away.'_

Shikamaru hid behind a nearby tree. ' _A guy can't just go punching women either. How should I get her?'_ The boy looked up at the clouds. ' _Man. Clouds have it good. They're all free. I didn't really want to do this. I'd just get nagged forever by mom, Ino, and Naruto if I quit now.'_

Temari stared at the boy. "Is he making fun of me?" She muttered. Growling at the perceived insult, Temari opened her fan and gave it a powerful swing. "Ninpou: Kamaitachi!"

Powerful gusts of wind went forward slicing trees and pushing Shikamaru back. Temari stared into the cloud of dust generated from her jutsu. She took a jump backwards as a shadow emerged from the cloud. Temari continued jumping back, noting how the shadow thinned and then eventually reached a stopping point. She quickly marked the distance.

"I've already seen through your Shadow Possession jutsu!" She called out to her opponent. "There's a limit to how much you can stretch and shape it. It can't exceed the overall surface area of the jutsu. But, you can use other shadows to supplement it. I have you."

She noticed as she finished her story though that Shikamaru was on one knee with a strange hand seal, making a circle with his hands.

* * *

"Huh." Asuma said.

"What seal is that?" Kurenai asked from beside him as she observed.

"That's not a seal. It's Shikamaru's habit. He likes taking his time slowly. He loves strategy games like Go and Shogi. That's his go to pose for when it's cornered. He's coming up with a solution. I've never beaten him at a strategy game."

Kurenai narrowed her eyes. "This isn't a game, you know. It's a real fight."

Asuma chuckled. "Those games were used for tacticians to practice preparing for war, originally. Shikamaru is a shrewd tactician."

"Shrewd. His grades were the same as Naruto's in the Academy." Kurenai said.

"Mah. That's how I trained Naruto to be smarter too." Kakashi said from her other side. "It works."

Asuma nodded. "Not just that, Shikamaru just didn't try. He claimed it was too much work. But, I thought it was weird that a genin with such low scores was beating me in games. So, I had Shikamaru take an IQ test disguised as a game."

"How did he do?" Kurenai asked, her curiosity piqued.

Asuma grinned. "Shikamaru's a genius. He's got an IQ over 200." Grinning at the shocked looks on the genin nearby and the looks on the other jonin, Asuma turned back to the match.

* * *

Temari growled as Shikamaru stood. "Looks like you're serious now! Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" She sent another massive wave of powerful slicking wind.

Shikamaru jumped behind a tree and pulled a kunai as he did. He took his outer shirt off and then hid behind a trunk as Temari sent another wave his way.

As the wind dissipated, he threw a kunai at Temari, who blocked the kunai using her fan. As she did though, she noticed the shadow reaching out for her. She stepped behind the line, only to panic and jump away as it reached further. Temari continued moving away till the shadow stopped and then eased. "Heh. It won't stretch again."

"Temari! Above!" Came a yell.

' _That's Kankuro. What does he mean above?'_ Temari looked up to see Shikamaru's shirt tied like a parachute over a kunai.

Seeing the shadow form, Temari jumped again as Shikamaru's shadow extended again.

"You won't escape now!" Shikamaru said as his shadow chased her.

Finally creating distance, Temari grinned as the shadow stopped and then put down her fan in front of herself.

' _Heh. I'll divert his attention with Bunshin no jutsu and then with that opening, I'll use all my chakra to tear him apart.'_ Temari thought. She peeked out and noting his shadow not stretching. Temari smiled.

She ducked behind her fan and began forming seals.

Unfortunately for her, at that moment, Shikamaru tossed a kunai with an exploding tag that hit her fan causing it to fly back, hitting her and disrupting her chakra flow. Temari was tossed backwards with the force of the blow.

The Suna girl stood shakily, furious that she'd opened herself up like so. She looked at Shikamaru's location intending on berating the boy but she found that he wasn't there.

Turning, she noticed the boy moving to kick her. She moved her fan up just in time to intercept the kick but as she did, she noticed a grin on Shikamaru's face. Then, she noticed his hand seal. Temari felt her body freeze as the boy stepped down and then began taking steps back.

"Alright. I don't have much chakra but Shadow Possession Jutsu, success." Shikamaru said. "Now, you might wanna give up."

"Or what?"

Shikamaru grinned. "I'll strip you and give these nice audience members a show."

"You're bluffing." Temari said narrowing her eyes.

Shikamaru wordlessly reached down causing Temari to grab the base of her skirt and then began lifting up.

Temari's face turned bright red. "Wait! I give up! I give up!"

Shikamaru grinned and then stopped.

"Winner! Shikamaru Nara!" Genma called stepping forward.

Shikamaru released his jutsu. "Too bad. Would've been a good show." He said to Temari as the audience clapped for him.

Turning he walked away, leaving a thoroughly embarrassed Temari to follow.

* * *

Asuma laughed at his student's antics. "Well, that was an interesting way to land the Shadow Possession."

Kurenai frowned. "What a perverted way to win."

Kakashi laughed. "The way of a ninja. Our job is to go for low blows. He understands that. His strategy was incredible. That definitely earns the rank of chunin. He completed the mission and without casualties."

The scarecrow jonin nodded to the Chunin proctors. "I think they're agreeing."

Asuma, Kurenai and Gai turned to see Izumo, Kotetsu, and Sarada smiling and writing on paper.

* * *

Shikamaru reached upstairs to see a grinning Naruto. "Way to go!" The blond greeted. "I was half afraid you'd give up."

"I thought about it." Shikamaru said with a smirk. "But, I didn't want Ino and you nagging me to death."

Naruto turned to his rival, who stood beside him. "You're up. Kick ass Teme."

Sasuke smirked. "Hn." Then, he jumped down, only to be followed by Neji.

The two boys squared off.

"It would be best for you to give up now Uchiha. While you may be talented, it's not your destiny to win."

Sasuke stared at his opponent angrily and then activated his sharingan. "Don't go deciding destiny on your own. Today's about revenge and I'm going to win."

Genma stepped forward. "Alright. Uchiha Sasuke vs Hyuga Neji. Begin!"

* * *

 **A.N. That's that for this chapter! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. I've been really busy and have a massive test next week so this is all I had time for this week. I'll try to have another chapter out for next week. I'm really excited to write the Sasuke vs Neji fight and to write it well. As always, thank for your reviews and encouraging words! I look forward to seeing your feedback so please be sure to leave more reviews! They help me iron out the things I mess up. A special thanks to the guys that caught my mistakes last time. It was incredibly helpful. Best of luck with your endeavors, and stay safe!**


End file.
